


Silence

by Mistystarshine



Category: Gone Series - Michael Grant
Genre: Angst, Disability, Drama, F/M, Gen, Romance, additional relationships not yet added, sometimes humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-01
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2017-12-25 07:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/950491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistystarshine/pseuds/Mistystarshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite being a four bar one of Caine's most powerful tools had always been his voice. He was a great liar, wonderful manipulator, and very charismatic. But when an accident leaves him mute he has to learn how to live without it. Caina, post Lies</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Hey there! So, I was unsure of starting a second fanfic while I am still working on 'Returned', but at the encouraging of one of my friends I decided to start Silence as well. Originally this was just going to be a oneshot, but the story just started to expand inside my head, as stories do, until eventually I decided to make it a full length fic, taking place almost immediately after lies. Anyway, Tienka, this is dedicated to you.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Gone series. Please forgive me if I forget to post a disclaimer on all of the chapters and my memory isn't the greatest, if I end up doing so feel free to poke me and I'll add one right away.

Hatred. That was all she was able to feel these days, sheer, mind numbing, hatred. She remembered a time when she could feel more. Joy, excitement, even love. Although, if you asked some people, they would say that even when she was able to feel these emotions it was wrong. The joy and excitement came at getting her way, gaining power over others, making them suffer at her hand. Not without reason, oh no, she hurt them because they had wronged her. But really, everyone had wronged her by this point. And the love? On , it was said that the love she felt was nothing more than obsession. A bitter obsession, dragging both herself and the person of her desire down. But she didn't see it as that, if you asked her it was love.

And was this love directed at?

Caine Soren. Of course, when she thought of him now she didn't feel the slightest twinge of affection. Only hatred, that better hatred that she had been feeling for the past four days, even since she had wound up stuck in this wretched bathroom. Ever since he had dropped her off a cliff to save that witch Diana instead of her, leaving her legs broken and her crippled. Crippled. The word brought a snarl of anger across her lips. There was no way she would be healed, not now, not in the FAYZ. As far as she was aware there was only one healer in the glorified fishbowl and she doubted that Lana would help her. Probably sided with Caine, everyone sided with Caine.

She was deep in thought, although the whirling mass of anger and hate that resided inside her head barely counted as thought anymore, when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Not a person, or at least not a person she could see. But she saw it, the box of tissues that rested on the back of the toilet twitching slightly as someone bumped into it. That was when a thought entered her head, a real, solid thought.

She wanted to feel more than just hate.

It was in a sick, sing-song voice that Penny called out, "Bug, oh Buuug! I know you're there, spying on little old me." Her voice took on a mock whisper as she asked, "hoping you'll see me with my clothes off, hmm? Don't you think I'm pretty?"

The invisible boy did not say anything in response to her. But he wasn't silent, not silent enough. The grand bathroom of the mansion was very quiet once she fell silent, quiet enough that she could hear his soft footsteps as he began to retreat. Immediately she set her power on him, filling his head with images of spiders, crawling in his mouth and eating him alive. It was not real, of course, nothing her power did was real. But it was real enough to him.

A shriek left Bug as the vision took control, his invisibility vanishing in his horror and imagined pain. For a moment she worried that his screams would alert one of the others. Yet she did not let up, and after several minutes, when is screams began to turn to pain-filled whimpers, she let out a laugh of victory. They were not coming, the would-be king and his witch weren't close enough to hear. Probably outside, gazing down at the kingdom they had been forced to flee. The laugh sounded wrong, twisted, the laugh someone gone mad. The first one she had let out in ages. "Their mistake," she whispered to herself, "their mistake, running away, leaving me with my prey."

Something that resembled a giggle left her at this. But it was not time for talking to herself and basking in her success, they could come inside and think to check on the captive at any moment. Penny had to act. She dragged herself forward, wincing and holding back whimpers every time her broken legs were moved. Any other time she would have let out a cry of pain. Not now, not when she had a goal. Upon reaching her prisoner, who was frantically crawling at his skin and leaving red claw marks, she did away with the vision only to replace it with another. Shackles, holding onto his arms and legs, chaining him to the floor. It would be physically possible for him to get up and walk away, yes, but that would take a strong mind, something she personally doubted Bug had.

Again he tried to scream. Her response was immediate, a slap to the boy's face followed by a command of, "stop!"

He fell silent.

A smile crossed her face, one that might have looked sweet once upon a time. "Bug," she murmured, "you want to help me, right? Because good boys like to help pretty girls, and you're a good boy, right?" Bug was silent, starting up at her with wide, terrified eyes. But if Penny noticed she didn't care. Instead she continued, "because I really need help with something, and if you don't help me it would be bad. And I can make you see things, feel things, things that only bad boys should see or feel." She fell silent again, seeming to gaze off at something in the distance for a moment. Unfortunately for Bug that moment wasn't long, for she soon pulled herself together and asked, "so, what you think, my little Bug? Will you help me?"

He didn't respond fast enough for her taste, which caused a flare of anger to pass through her. Couldn't he see she needed him for something!? There was no time to waste! While the shackles would remain the boy also saw great wolves made of fire enter the room, growling and bearing their teeth, approaching him like he was a meal. As soon as he saw them he exclaimed, "yes! Yes, I-I'll help you! Just please don't hurt me."

A tingle of disappointment passed through Penny that he had given in so soon. It had been fun convincing him, if it had lasted a little longer she was sure it would have been grand. Somewhere in the back of her mind she took note of his cowardice, she would have to keep him on a tight leash. But that was a worry for another time. Right now she had bigger fish to fry.

"Good," she replied, "excellent. Because I have plans, Bug, big plans."

Again Penny smiled. Oh, she was tired of feeling just hate, but soon she would feel more than hate. Soon she would feel joy, soon she would feel excitement.

Soon she would get revenge.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, chapter one. I might not be going into too much detail on certain things because 1.) it's rated T, we won't be going into exceedingly graphic gore and torture, and 2.) I'm writing a fanfic, not an epic medical journal detailing how to survive something like this. Honestly it's probably mostly luck and timing that prevents death here. Anyway, this chapter, like this story, is dedicated to Tienka, who is not allowed to read this until she finishes reading Lies. Tink, if you are reading this before you finish Lies I will be confiscating your hats for a week.
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or any of the characters.

It was an average day. Which, if what was coming and the changes it would cause where known to anyone at the time, would feel very wrong to say. Life-changing events weren't supposed to happen on average days. They were meant to be on dark and stormy night, sunny days, in the middle of the worst hurricane of the century, things like that. Not a day where things were just… normal. Well, as normal as things could get inside the FAYZ.

But that was the only way Caine knew to describe it, normal. He was out a ways away from the mansion, staring over the edge of the island, although cliff was probably a better word, and toward Perdido Beach. Or the mainland, for the entire area was certainly not just Perdido Beach. As he did this he couldn't help but feel a small wave of amusement. Here he was, standing on some faraway place and staring at somewhere that used to be his home. He supposed that is this were a movie he would be feeling rather homesick right now, basking in the warm and loving memories of home. Well he wasn't. He didn't miss that place at the moment, not one bit. When they had arrived at the island they had been starving, in fact the signs of starvation still showed on them. Lines had been crossed and nearly drove Diana over the edge. But now he didn't have to worry about that, neither of them did.

Oh, he had no doubt that one day he would feel the urge to try and go back. Take over and claim his rule over that pathetic little town. But not right now. For the moment he was happy, despite the fiasco with Penny a few days ago, despite those brats escaping on their helicopter. Right now he was feeling a moment of peace.

But peace was not made to last. And sure enough, him was soon shattered by a familiar voice calling, "hello, Caine."

It did not send chills down his back or make him feel a jolt of fear. Instead all he felt was a harsh prickle of annoyance. Perhaps he should have feared, maybe that would have saved him. But there was no fear as he turned around, instead he was completely confident that whatever the psychotic girl through at him he could deal with. His voice was cool as he replied, "Penny." The annoyance did not show through. If there was one thing that Caine had become good at over the years it was controlling his voice. He was an excellent liar and great at hiding any emotion he might be feeling. Really it was one of his greatest strengths. But he wasn't thinking about this as he paused to give the girl a once over.

He didn't let his gaze linger on her legs, as unpleasant of a sight as they were. No guilt entered him for the brief moment that he did look at them though. After all, she had brought this upon herself. Penny noticed this and, had Caine been paying any attention to her face, he might have seen the anger flash across it. But instead he was looking at the thing she was sitting in, a wheelchair. It didn't surprise him that there was one in the Brattle-Chance house, surely one of those children had injured one of their legs at one point or another. What confused him was how she got it. There was no way she could walk and no way Diana would have given her one. It took him seconds to figure out who must have gotten it for her, although he did not call him out. Not yet anyway. Instead he asked in an icy voice, "what are you doing out here?"

She smiled at this, which was Caine's first warning. It caused a wave of uneasiness to pass through him. She shouldn't be smiling, he hadn't seen her smile since the accident. It looked a lot like Drake's smiles after he lost his arm, never smiling because of something good, smiling because they were going to do something. The sight of this smile told him that she wanted to do something bad, and he had no doubt that that bad thing would happen to him or Diana. Yet he pushed his discomfort aside, not willing to let her see him squirm. Her voice was a parody of sweetness as she said, "come closer and I'll show you."

Caine frowned before replying, "I don't think I will. Now go back inside before I make you." He got no reaction. Not physical, not vocal, she just sat there, still as a statue.

The teen narrowed his eyes at her just before she responded, "no,  _I don't think I will_."

And then there was fire. Coming up all around him, the only opening leading directly to Penny. He could see the flames, bright and red and _real_ , he could feel the heat on his skin. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this was an illusion. He knew it was just Penny, knew that she was playing tricks on him. But logic was not able to overrule the panic he felt. The flames were creeping up behind him, licking at his heels. He could feel it begin to burn through his pants leg and into his skin. So he did what instinct told him to, he ran, ran for the only path out of the fire.

This was a mistake. As soon as he was close enough Penny lunged forward, falling directly on Caine. For a moment there were no illusions as she lost focus thanks to the pain caused by moving her legs rushing through her. But it was not enough time for the stunned Caine to use his powers and throw her off of him. Soon enough he was stuck, vines emerging from the ground and wrapping around his legs. Vines that weren't they yet were and, combined with the light but present weight of Penny on his chest, were enough to keep him there.

Fear rushed through him. Strong, genuine, powerful fear. Despite his pride he screamed, hoping that someone, anyone, might hear him. This just got a laugh from Penny. "Silly Cainey," she murmured, "no one's coming to save you. There was no one to save me, certainly no one to help you."

With that she brought her right hand into view, which had been hidden behind her back. And in it was… a knife. Had she had it the whole time? How had he missed it? Caine wondered about that for less than a second before pushing the thought aside. He had stopped screaming once she had started to speak and had no intention on starting to again. However, that did not mean he planned on being silent. His voice was a growl as he said, "Penny, listen to me. Don't do anything stupid. If that knife so much as touches me I promise, you won't live to regret it."

She did not lower the knife. Instead she let out a small chuckle, leaned forward ignoring any pain from her legs and whispered, "and you won't live." She didn't give him time to respond. Instead she brought the knife forward, positioning it over his throat. He had told himself that he would not scream again, he had too much pride to scream over the likes of her. And yet, at the cool feeling of the blade against his skin, he couldn't help it. A scream left him, somehow louder than the others. If he were paying much attention to his captor's face at the moment he would have noticed that she seemed to be paying a lot of attention to where she put the knife, positioning it and re-positioning it. She wanted to make him suffer, not give him a quick and easy death.

Maybe human anatomy class had been good for something after all, aside for being rather easy for her to pass.

His scream was soon cut off by the knife slicing through his neck. The pain was red-hot, more real than any of the illusions that she had used to get him in this position. He began jerk around in an attempt to get free but it was weak at best. With a wild laugh Penny pulled the knife out, pausing to gaze at the blood on the blade. Not that he noticed. In fact he was having trouble focusing on anything but his fear and the pain. The vines were still there, pinning him to the ground, the psychopath was still on top of him, and he suddenly had the very real feeling that he was going to die.

And he would have it not for two things. Time and luck. For although neither Caine nor Penny noticed it the third person on the scene, the one that had been moving unseen, did. The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. Bug slowly approached Caine and Penny and hissed, "someone's coming." It was fear that drove him to warn the girl and possibly save her life, fear of what she would do to him if he didn't.

A frown crossed Penny's face at this. With a glance back down at Caine she murmured, "and we were just starting to have fun. Maybe there's a bit more time…" With that she leaned forward and Caine managed to feel another surge of fear despite the lightheadedness he was now starting to feel. That was when Penny froze, apparently hearing the footsteps as well. She let out a curse under her breath before straining her neck to look over her shoulder. She then cast one last glance at Caine before hissing, "well he's dead anyway." Without letting go of the knife she began to try and drag herself back to the chair, only to let out a hiss of pain. Despite not being able to see him she snapped to Bug, "what are you waiting for!? Help me up!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Caine watched with eyes he struggled to keep open, although whether it was because of blood loss or pain he did not know, as Penny seemed to be lifted by some invisible force back into the chair and wheeled away. The vines were gone but there was no way he could get up. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't move.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Was she happy here? She wasn't completely sure. On one hand she didn't have to face the risk of starving to death any more.  _That_  was certainly a good thing. But on the other hand she was still having trouble escaping the guilt of what she did when starvation was still a very real risk. And why should she? Did she even _deserve_  to get away from that? The answer was clear to her without really having to think about it. No, she didn't. What she had done was unforgivable, there would be no forgetting it or getting over it, no matter how much time passed. Not to mention that she had admitted to loving Caine, not only to him but to herself. Some might think that was a good though, but to her it was almost laughable. Part of her still doubted that either of them where actually capable of feeling love, no matter what she might think she felt. Or what delusions of the feeling he might have, not that he had actually been able to say the words back on the cliff.

But he had saved her life instead of killing those kids. That had to count for something, right?

Diana was lounging on a couch in one of the many rooms in the mansion pondering this when she heard the scream. At first she wasn't completely sure it was real or even human, whatever it was it seemed to be quite a ways away. But it was still enough to alert her, and so when the second scream came she had absolutely no doubt over what she had heard. There was no hesitation as she stood up and began to move for the door. She might be running right into a life or death situation, yes, but the island wasn't that big, whatever it was it would probably be coming after her sooner or later. And she certainly wasn't worried about Caine's safety. No, just her own, or at least that was what she told herself.

However, she only got a few steps before something occurred to her. If she was going to run out and face whatever dangers lurked out there doing so without some sort of weapon could easily be suicide. Which, while she wasn't in the best place right now, she didn't exactly feel eager to experience. So with a small snarl and turned around and sprinted through the house to the room with a rather large table, what she had dubbed the 'meeting room', where she and Caine had been sorting through various weapons that they had found throughout the house, or things that could be used as weapons.

Without pausing to spare it more than a passing glance she grabbed one of the two guns on the table. Now, if she had been slower and paid more attention she would have noticed that while neither of the guns were exactly high-powered rifles the one she grabbed happened to be a flare gun. But as the worry she insisted she was not really feeling continued to rise within her the little part of her brain that would tell her to check and make sure it was actually something that could do damage fell silent.

Gun in hand she headed out of the house just in time to hear another scream. Mentally cursing she ran, but despite her best efforts her every step seemed painfully slow. For a moment she was envious of Brianna, she would have been there in a heartbeat. The screaming stopped for a moment before starting again and, despite already putting in her best and then some, she forced herself to speed up even more.

Then it stopped. Not a natural stop though, it sounded cut off. Unnatural silence that had been forced upon someone. For a moment she could swear she felt her heart stop. Despite having no proof she was sure that it was Caine. Unless someone had gotten on without them noticing there were only four people on the island. Penny was trapped in the bathroom and Bug… she would know if it was Bug. She didn't know how, she would just know. Her heart wouldn't beat nearly as fast, there wouldn't be this lump starting to form in her throat.

She didn't allow herself to stop for even a second. As she got closer to the source of the sound she could swear she heard the harsh  _snap_  of a twig under someone's foot. Someone running away then. Part of her wanted to turn around and chase after whoever it was, see if they would know what was going on. But another part of her, a louder part, said that she needed to keep going. Had to see what the screaming was, had to see what had happened.

The louder part was right.

Upon reaching the scene Diana had to stifle a scream of her own. There was Caine, lying in the ground, his throat cut open. And there was blood, so much blood. So much blood and yet, some faraway part of her registered, not enough. Not enough for a severed artery least. For one moment she was stood there, frozen, unable to think, unable to act.

And then she snapped out of it. Rushing forward she knelt down beside him, paying no attention to the fact that her pants would end up covered in blood. A string of curses left her as she pressed her hands against the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. If it helped it was pitiful, human hands were not enough to clot up the blood enough to make it stop. "Crap," she hissed. Glancing at Caine, who was still alive and somehow still conscious, although he was looking blankly up to the sky and she had no doubt that he was completely out of it, she exclaimed, "you will not die." It wasn't a reassurance to either him or herself, it was an order. He would not die, he would  _not_  leave her alone.

Something wet ran down her cheek. Was she crying? She didn't notice, and either way it didn't matter. She wasn't about to let herself curl up into a ball and start sobbing, she needed to do something, she needed to act. Diana was no doctor, she was no Lana, she wasn't even Dahra. But she had had a basic first aid class, although she didn't pay much attention to it, which she was bitterly regretting now. Yet she remembered that wounds needed something to stop the bleeding and pressure, which apparently wouldn't work with just human hands. She didn't bother looking around for some sort of fabric to magically appear, miracles didn't just happen in the FAYZ after all, and running back to the house would take far too long. Instead she pulled off her shirt and pressed it against the wound. For a moment he did not move, just stared in horror at her hands pressing down upon it, at Caine, his eyes beginning to flutter shut. And his face… beginning to turn purple?

Alarm ran through her at this. Air, air, hadn't they said something about people not getting enough air when it came to throat injuries? _Choking_ , he was choking. For one horrifying moment she didn't know what to do, than it came to her in a hazy, panicked blur of memory. Pride forgotten for the time being she leaned forward, using one hand to prop his head up with the other held her now blood-covered shirt against the wound, and blew into his mouth. Breathe for them, they had said, you need to breathe for someone if they couldn't breathe themselves.

It was as she did this that he finally lost consciousness, sending another stab of fear through her. Yet she did not stop, he was alive, and as long as he was alive she had to keep going. Had to keep him alive. It was when the purple tint to his face faded that she allowed herself to pull back for a moment, sucking in a great gasp of air. One hand remained on the makeshift shirt-bandage, for while the bleeding might have stopped, or at least slowed, she wasn't taking any chances. It seemed that he was breathing on his own, although his breaths were shallow.

That was when her gaze wandered to the gun, forgotten beside her. She noticed the odd lump-like things on the back of it, flare cartages, and she finally realized her mistake in choice of weapon. For a moment she cursed herself, if whoever had done this was still there the best she could have done was set the island on fire.  _Not that it would have mattered,_  she growled to herself, _if I had arrived before the coward could run off I'd have torn them apart with my bare hands._

Her gaze wandered from the gun back to Caine and she felt her heart sink. Which was pretty impressive, considering that she thought it couldn't have gotten any lower. He wasn't going to make it. She could keep him alive for a while, sure, maybe a day if she was extremely lucky and turned out to be some sort of miracle worker. But she couldn't truly save him, not by herself, if he didn't bleed out from the wound there would be infection, or he would eventually choke, or something she wouldn't see coming. She needed help.

But they were alone, alone on this stupid island that he had dragged her off to.

A sob broke free from her chest without her permission. It felt wrong, she didn't  _cry_. She was Diana Ladris, the horrible witch of Coates Academy. There was no way she was crying, no, not crying, sobbing. And there was no way she was giving up.

Again her gaze flickered to the gun. However, immediately after it moved up to the sky, which was beginning to turn pale as dusk approached. Three shots, it looked like there were three shots, assuming that they actually went off. Flares were supposed to go a long way, right? Maybe, just maybe, someone would see her back at Perdido Beach. Well, saw her, realized that flares probably equaled bad, and decided to help.

It didn't seem likely.

But then again, it was her only chance.

With her free hand she grabbed the gun, wrapped her finger around the trigger, and fired it into the air. A flare came soaring out, climbing up and up before exploding in a blinding mass of red light high up in the sky. After a few minutes she shot another, to assure it would be seen and, half an hour later, another.

It would be hours before they were found, both covered in blood, Caine unconscious and Diana still trying her best to keep him there.


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay, here we are at chapter two! Now, to answer any questions about how they arrived without taking it half a day or so I refer you to Plague, where Quinn goes to fetch Caine and uses one of the few boats that still has a motor and oil to do so. This is that boat. Also, flashlights. Not too common but still around at this point in time. As always, this chapter is dedicated to Tienka.
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or any of the characters.

How long did it take? She didn't know, and even if she managed to form a rough estimation of the time she had no doubt that it was far from accurate. Every second felt like a minute, a minute an hour, an hour a day. Oh, and it had been hours. The sky was dark and dotted with stars. Not the real stars, though. This was just an illusion, a mockery of the real thing put up there by whatever had caused this whole thing. It made a surge of disgust run through her. If Caine was going to die, not that he was, not that she'd let him, it wouldn't even be under real starts. He would slip away, in this stupid  _fishbowl_ , and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

Somewhere along the way Diana had started crying again. No sobbing, no completely breaking down, she couldn't let that happen. She needed to stay focused, he needed her to stay focused. Yet tears rolled down her cheeks without her permission until there were no more left to fall, leaving her eyes bloodshot. She was exhausted. It didn't matter, she couldn't rest, she had to wait for someone to come. Someone  _had_  to be coming.

And yet, as time wore on, she began to feel doubt. Was anyone coming? Why would they, after all they had done to the townies? Even if they saw the flares there was always the chance that they had decided that they didn't  _deserve_  their help, no matter what the problem might be. Hadn't they burned down half their town before running away to the island? Well, not directly, those human crew kids were all too happy to do the dirty work. But the fact remained that without them it would not have happened. No, no one was going to come. They were alone.

It was as this thought crossed her mind that she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A flash of green. Diana's head whipped around, focusing on that spot. It was at the base of the cliff, which just so happened to not be that far away from where they were. As she spared a glance down at Caine she couldn't help but notice the bitter note of irony. This was where he had tried to kill those kids, where he had dropped Penny.  _Penny_. There were only four people on this island that she knew of, and of those four she was the only one that would do this. But she couldn't. Not with her legs the way they were, she wouldn't even be able to move by herself. She would need someone helping her to accomplish such a task.  _Bug_.

As the pieces began to fall into place she felt anger bubble up inside her. She had no proof, there was always a chance that she would look and Penny would be stuck in that bathroom. This was just a wild theory made in a place of rage, pain, and fear. But it was the only one she had at the moment. And even worse was the fact that it made sense. Why else would the other person have run? Penny and her illusions might have been able to bring down Caine with Bug's help, yes, but in the condition she was currently in there was no way she would have been able to deal with both of them at once. So she left him for dead.

In that moment Diana made a promise to herself. She was going to find Penny and she was going to kill her. There would be no mercy, no talking about it. The monster bringer had to die.

She was torn out of her thoughts by another flash of green light. This was not just a random burst though, no, this was a bright, blinding shot straight up into the air. A signal. Diana did not smile, she was too far gone for that, but she did allow herself a quick feeling of relief. There was only one person who could do that, which meant that they had come. So maybe, just maybe, it would turn out alright. After the flash she heard a voice, calling from the base of the cliff. She couldn't make out the words thanks to the distance, or maybe thanks to the sound of her heart pounding at what seemed faster than the speed of light, but it was enough. Wasting no breath she screamed, "here! We're up here!"

Ever since finding Caine with his throat cut she had been quiet, only speaking to Caine every now and then despite him being unconscious. Mostly insults or demands that he had to stay alive, even now she wasn't going to slip into whispering soft, sweet things. Because that would mean that he was going to die. And he wasn't going to die, he  _couldn't_  die. She wouldn't let him.

Again her gaze flickered from the edge of the cliff and back to Caine. Was he getting paler? She thought he was, but she couldn't tell in this light, or lack of more accurately. The only way she even knew he was alive was because of her hand, still pressing her now ruined shirt against his throat, occasionally detecting movement. Her other hand was… holding one of his hands? For a moment she was mystified, not quite remembering when she had taken his hand. However, she was pulled out of her thoughts by a sound from over the cliff. It wasn't easy to describe, the sound of something, something metal it sounded like, brushing against rocks and the tiniest bit or cursing. Or at least she thought it was cursing, it sounded loud and angry enough. Then another sound, a bit of a  _whoosh_.

And then levitation.

Shapes rose up from the other side of the cliff, as close to it as they could get it looked like. Four figures that she had trouble making out in the darkness and bits of dirt that had risen with them. Yet she was completely sure as to who one of them was. Sam, the only one capable of making that light. For once she was happy to see him and, if he had been conscious at the time, she was sure that Caine would have been as well. Another she thought must be Dekka, the girl with the ability to cancel gravity. It would make sense for them to bring her, it had only been because of Caine that they had managed to make it up the cliff in the first place after all. And while Dekka was no telekinetic she was also clearly of use.

It was not until a flashlight shone in her face that she saw how truly lucky they had gotten.

The figures managed to get a grip onto the side of the cliff and haul themselves up at the gravity around them fell back into place. While she knew she should say something Diana couldn't quite bring herself to find the words, instead frantically looking from Caine to the figures. As they straightened themselves out she removed her hold not holding the wound from his grasp and pressed two fingers against his pulse, trying to figure out if he was breathing correctly. However, before she could locate it one of the figures, not standing, held out a flashlight that they had apparently been holding onto for the ride up and turned it on, sending a beam of yellow light their way.

It took a little while for her eyes to adjust after being out in the dark for so long, but apparently it didn't take quite as long for the others. As she was still blinking black spots out of her vision she heard someone gasp and someone else mutter, "oh my god." It didn't take long at all for her eyes to adjust to the newfound light but it still felt like it took too long at the moment. Everything took too long.

The spots in her vision were still fading as she started identifying the figures. Sam, as she had guessed, looking awfully pale. Dekka beside him, appearing stoic as she always seemed to, if not just a tad disturbed. Quinn, who's appearance surprised her until she remembered his appearance at the marina when they stole the boats to reach the island, apparently he did something with fishing now, looked absolutely freaked out. But it was the person next to Quinn that mattered to her, at the moment she was the only one that mattered in the bunch. Lana. She didn't know why the healer was there and she didn't care, all that mattered was that she was. It was to her she spoke as she finally managed to find her voice, "help."

She meant it to sound strong and commanding, maybe throw in some comment about not just standing there. Yet as she managed the word, just the single word, it sounded strange and broken. A little pathetic, actually. Yet it seemed to work, the healer running forward and crouching beside her. Without a word Diana removed her hand and the shirt from the wound, allowing Lana to place her hands over it. Now that the flashlight was there she was able to see just how bad things were. Caine looked horribly pale, like something you might expect to find in a grave. There was blood everywhere, covering him, her hands, and anywhere that she had touched. Oddly enough she couldn't care less that Sam, Quinn, Lana, and Dekka were able to see her without a shirt on, covered in blood, and looking every bit a mess. Panic did that to you.

Soon enough Sam got enough of a grip of himself to move toward her, the others slowly following. Not that she actually looked up to see that he was approaching. No, it was the sound of his footsteps that gave him away. He sounded shaken as he asked, "what happened?" It was straight to the point, which she appreciated. Beating around the bush wouldn't help at all in this case. But still she did not respond right away, a part of her mind wandering off to feel slightly amused that he sounded shaken. He hadn't been the one that found him with his throat freshly cut, he hadn't been the one that sat by him for hours trying to keep him alive. It wasn't real amusement of course, just some morbid parody.

When she did respond, after at least thirty seconds, she said, "I found him like this." Diana opened her mouth, as if she was about to say more, but couldn't quite make herself say anything. It felt like a knot was caught in her throat, preventing her from saying anything. Some faraway part of her figured that she might be in shock, and maybe Sam figured it out as well. He exchanged a quick glance with Dekka, some sort of unspoken communication passing between them. At the moment she didn't care enough to try and decipher it.

Finally he responded, "there's a house here, right? That one owned by the movie stars, that's where you've been staying?" She felt like he was speaking to her as if she where a small child and under normal circumstances she would have probably snapped at him. But instead she gave a mute nod. With that done Sam turned to the healer and asked, "can we move him?" There was something odd about his voice, almost as if he were worried. This surprised Diana but she quickly shoved the feeling away. He wouldn't be worried about Caine. How could he, after all they had done? Hell,  _she_  shouldn't be worried about Caine.

Lana didn't answer for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what to say. After a moment or two of thought she admitted, "I don't think it would be safe to move him yet. This… this is bad. Really bad." The nervousness was clear in her voice and it set Diana on edge. Bad? What did that mean exactly? Bad as in she couldn't save him? Again she wanted to speak up, to yell something at the girl, but again the words wouldn't leave her mouth. Maybe, she would later think, it was good that they didn't. Lana looked nervous, as if the thought that she wouldn't be able to fix someone upset her as much as it upset her. Only it didn't, there was no way she could possibly feel as rotten as Diana did at the moment.

There was silence for a moment before Diana muttered, "I'll wait." How she managed those words she wasn't sure, maybe because they were so much more important. Maybe because he was more important than her swinging barbed words at their rescuers. However, that was a secret that she vowed to take with her to the grave.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

She wasn't sure how long it was until Caine was able to be moved, but somehow time seemed to move even slower now that help had actually arrived and he was in the process of being healed. And even when they were able to take him back to the mansion he did not wake up and Lana kept working from where he was now laid out on a couch. The healer looked absolutely exhausted and yet she did not give up, something Diana was grateful for, even if she might never actually tell the other girl that. For almost the whole time she refused to leave his side or answer any questions, and soon enough they stopped coming. At one point Sam left and returned with a shirt, which she pulled on wordlessly.

Dawn would be breaking in an hour or two when she finally muttered, "I'll be right back." Without waiting for a response she stood up and began numbly making her way to the bathroom where they had been keeping Penny. Somehow she knew what she would find, or more accurately, wouldn't find. But still she had to check for that faint hope that maybe she was wrong. Or maybe the girl was stupid enough to try and return after what she did. She was aware of the sound of footsteps behind her but did not comment. If one of the heros wanted to follow her then fine, it wasn't like she was hiding anything from them.

Upon reaching the bathroom door Diana paused for a moment, feeling fear in some corner of her mind.  _Fear_. She couldn't let herself be afraid, couldn't let that witch get to her. Odd that she should be calling Penny a witch, the very name that she often found herself called. Taking in a quick breath she opened the door, only for her suspicions to be confirmed. Her voice managed to be both angry and faint as she said, "Penny's gone."

It was Sam's voice that sounded behind her. "Penny?"

Diana's voice was relatively blank as she responded, "psychopath, has the ability to make people think they are seeing things. Caine dropped her off a cliff, broke her legs." At her words she couldn't help but glance behind her to see Sam's reaction. He looked alarmed at his description of her and, when she said what Caine did, not that surprised. She opened her mouth to speak yet couldn't find anything to say. Penny had been a monster, yes, but what Caine had been trying to do when it happened was monstrous as well. Maybe this time it would be better if things were better left unsaid. Instead she muttered, "she must have done this. Someone helped her, she can't move on her own. It must have been Bug, little rat's never felt an ounce of loyalty or had anything even slightly resembling a backbone."

The last few sentences sounded more like she was talking to herself than anything. However, Sam still responded, growling, "great, now we have two murderous psychopaths to worry about."

It wasn't that Sam took her for her word that Penny was a psychopath so quickly that caught her attention. No, it was what he said. She suddenly felt very there, not as far away as she had been feeling for so long and with the shock beginning to wear off as she asked, "two?"

Sam's smile was bitter as he responded, "apparently throwing someone down a radioactive mine isn't quite as effective as it used to be." He didn't need to say anything more, the frown spreading across Diana's face was enough to show that she got it. Of course Drake wouldn't be willing to just stay dead, he  _had_  to come back and make everyone miserable. Or even more so at least.

Before Sam could say anything more she said, "explain when Caine's awake." With that she began to walk away from the bathroom, back to the room where they were healing the sociopath. Yet she didn't move fast enough miss the look that flickered across Sam's face what almost seemed like pity. Well she didn't want pity and she was sure that Caine wouldn't want it either. Pity would mean that he felt something bad was going to happen, which it wasn't. Everything would be just fine. It had to be.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

When she arrived back in the room Lana wasn't healing Caine anymore. Instead she sat slumped down on the floor in front of the couch, her head in her hands, Quinn beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She didn't know where Dekka was and really didn't care. Without paying the others any more attention she rushed forward, forgetting to mentally deny that she was feeling any kind of worry. A sigh of relief left her when she saw that Caine was looking better than he had earlier, much better. There was color in his face again, he was breathing evenly, and his wound, formally an open and bleeding wound, had been reduced to a thin scar line.

But he wasn't awake. Another wave of worry passed through her, enough to make her ask, "will he make it?"

Lana looked up then, exhaustion clear on her face. But there was something else there, something she couldn't quite figure out. Guilt? Worry? Whatever it was it certainly wasn't reassuring, not that she needed reassurance. The healer's voice had a strength that she forced herself to put on as she said, "he'll live."

There was a but somewhere in there. She hadn't said it, she hadn't trailed off, but Diana could sense it none the less. Instead of simply accepting the healer's words, words that she had been fearing she wouldn't hear only moment ago, she decided she needed to know what else there was to it. She tried her best to keep the worry out of her voice as she responded, "there's more, I can feel it."

Lana was quiet and for a moment she broke eye contact, looking down at her feet, like she was having trouble bringing herself to say what she needed to. She noticed Quinn give a quick squeeze of the healer's shoulder before she looked back up and replied, "I think there was some damage that I couldn't see and, maybe, couldn't heal." For a moment there was silence, Diana not quite knowing when too say. Before she could even try Lana added, "I'm sorry. I tried my best, and he won't die, but there are some things I can't fix. Last time I tried…"

She trailed off, as if she had trouble bringing herself to say it, and for the first time Diana understood the guilt and worry she thought she had seen. Last time she had tried to tackle a wound that was beyond her help Drake Merwin had gotten his whip hand. That alone sent a clear enough message. If she tried to fix it, whatever it was, that she felt was beyond her help it could end up making things worse.

Diana's voice was blank as she replied, "I see." She felt numb. Unable to speak, not sure what to think, unable to stand. Somewhere in the back of her mind she noticed that Sam and Dekka had entered the room, talking about something in low voices. She didn't care. Without a word she sat down beside the healer, trying to figure out what to think.


	4. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And so we reach chapter three! I wanted to start by sending a quick thank you out to everyone that has reviews, favorite, followed, and/or recommended this story. Words cannot express how much it means to me. As always this chapter is dedicated to Tienka, who is, to clarify, allowed to read the dedications without her hats being confiscated, just not the fic itself until she has read Lies. It was causing some confusion earlier.
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or any of the characters.

Pain. That was all he had felt for a horribly long amount of time, or at least what felt like a long amount of time. How long it actually was he didn't know. After all, it wasn't easy keeping track of time when you would periodically drift in and out of consciousness. And even when he had come close to coming to several times earlier he hadn't, not really. Not enough to move, open his eyes, or try to speak, just enough to feel pain and make out the muffled sound of voices. It was only later that he would come to realize that there were too many voices for the people on the island, but by that time it would be obvious why.

When Caine finally started to drift back into the waking world, for real this time, he had no idea what time it was. Only that despite having been unconscious for who knew how long he felt far from rested. No, far from rested was too kind of a term. He felt. Like. Shit. As feeling began to return to him he found himself in that age-old struggle of whether to wake up or go back to sleep. Only what he had been in wasn't sleep, even in his state some far-off part of his brain knew it. Sleep didn't hurt like that, it was much too close to how he had felt during those horrible months that the darkness had had control over him.

It was when that thought sluggishly passed through his mind that the memories began to return to him. Penny's attack, the visions she set upon him, how she tried to cut him. Normally he would have gotten up, stormed out of the house, and gone tracking the witch down in order to destroy her. As it was he felt an incredible amount of anger flash through him despite his current state. How  _dare_  she hurt him!? No, not just hurt, she had tried to  _kill_ him. But everything felt slow at the moment, sluggish, like he had just run five marathons. All he managed to do was let out a groan, which, if he had listened closely, he would realize didn't sound quite right.

At this he felt a vibration move through the thing he was on, the oddly soft thing that did not belong outside, where he last remembered being, as if someone that had been slumped over was sitting up. Sitting up and then standing, and soon enough he felt a hand shake him on the shoulder. Not a rough shake, but not exactly a gentle caress either. It was followed by a familiar voice calling, "Caine? You done imitating one of the dead yet?" Diana, it had to be Diana. Of course he recognized her voice but it was also evident in the way she spoke. Mockery and sarcasm with, if he was detecting it right, possibly the faintest hint of worry. Of course this was probably hidden on purpose. Normally he would have smirked and shot back some sort of scathing remark, but all he could manage was another odd groan. This annoyed him, it made him sound  _weak_. Caine Soren was not weak, no matter how many psychopathic monster bringers attack him.

In an attempt to prove this he attempted to force his eyes open, which turned out to be a much harder task than it had any right to be. As he did this he heard another voice, this one also familiar but not exactly in a good way, say, "you two, out." This was followed by a pause, the voice hesitating as it made up its mind, before adding, "you too, Lana. But stay close in case we need you." Lana? What in god's name was the  _healer_  doing here? That was when he noticed the lack of a bleeding, cut open throat. Oh. Well, it still didn't explain how or why she was there, or why  _Sam_  was as well, for that matter.

If Caine had needed any more motivation that was more than enough. His eyes flashed open, for he refused to believe they had  _fluttered_ open, no matter how exhausted he was or how big of an ordeal he had gone through, to see Diana looking down at him with a worried expression. Well, he had seen that once his eyes adjusted to the light and even then it was only for a moment, for she quickly replaced it with one that was calm, cool, and collected. And completely false, or so he liked to think. He  _had_  just been attacked after all, it would be nice if she could show some sort of emotion toward the fact. But no, there were no sweet words to leave her mouth or exclamations of how happy she was that he was alive. Instead he got a snort and a dry comment of, "nice to see you're awake, sleeping beauty."

Caine bit back the urge to retort, probably something about how he couldn't be sleeping beauty because there was certainly no price charming anywhere in this room, not wanting to get into a fight right away.  _It's like the cliff fiasco never happened,_  he thought bitterly. What happened to her saying she loved him? But then again, he hadn't exactly said it back or done anything about it.  _No,_  he pushed the thought threatening to enter his head away,  _this is_ _ **not**_ _my fault._

With that he sat up, although it was more like a lurch into an upright position that he needed to grab onto the back of the soft thing, which he now saw was a couch, to maintain. It would have been easier to just wait for Diana to offer help, or maybe even ask for it. But there was absolutely no way his pride would let him do something like that. He was fine and perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He tried to make it appear so with the arrogant smirk that crossed his face, something that made Diana let out a small, probably annoyed, sigh. As soon as she made the sound he glanced back in her direction, the smirk faltering for only a moment before he forced it back into place. She looked exhausted, although he had missed it at the first glance. Beneath that calm, collected exterior he could still see the bags forming under her eyes, how bloodshot they were, and a look of overall tiredness in her posture. Not to mention the bits of dried blood, for he was sure in an instant that it was blood, on her arms and hands.

May she wasn't so uncaring after all.

He was drawn out of his thoughts and surprised staring by the sound of someone calling in a weary voice, "Caine." Immediately he turned around and saw, who else, Sam Temple, standing a fair distance away from the couch, looking far from at home in the actor's house. While he wasn't as bad off as Diana the signs of tiredness shone on him as well. That was no surprise of course, it must have taken him quite a while to get to the island. But that just brought up the question, why was he there in the first place?

He opened his mouth to say as much, most likely in some rude and snarky fashion.

That was when it first became apparent that something was wrong. Instead of words when he tried to speak all he felt was a dull, aching pain, as if from a not-quite-healed wound, followed by a round of uncontrollable coughing. He leaned forward and almost lost his hold on the couch and probably would have stumbled if not for Diana quickly moving over to sit down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Jeeze," she said in an attempt at a careless teasing voice, "try not to cough up a lung." Yet she couldn't completely hide the tremor in her voice from him. What he did miss was the quick, nervous glance exchanged between her and Sam.

Thankfully it didn't last too long. However, he wasn't able to try to speak right away, for as slumped forward, catching his breath, Sam started up. The first things that left his mouth weren't so much words as noises that he tried to form into words, something he would probably have mocked him about at any other time. What in god's name could possibly so hard for him to spit out? Finally he managed, although it sounded like it was hard for him to say the words, "Lana, she healed you but… she said she felt something. Like you had some sort of damage that she couldn't heal." He fell silent then, just watching the other boy. His twin, his enemy. The one that he couldn't help but fear for at the moment and feel some sort of pity for. No, Caine was not a mind reader, but he was able to see it on his face clearly enough.

His first reaction was to roll his eyes, ignoring the faint trickle of fear that began to enter him. He had tried to speak a moment ago a failed, yes, but that had to be for a completely common reason. He had just needed to cough, his throat was sore, he was thirsty.  _Something_. Either way, he was fine. The healer had done her thing and now Sam and his posse, for he had no doubt that he had brought one, could run back to the other townies, where they belonged. He opened his mouth to say as much, his lips moving to form the words.

And no sound came out. There was just that dull, aching pain that he had felt before, no coughing this time.

A look that was a mixture of alarm and pity flashed across Sam's face. Diana he thought was impossible to read at the moment, but he wasn't exactly focusing on trying to figure out her expressions at the moment. Instead he was just dealing with the denial that flashed through him. _No_. This couldn't be happening, he could speak, he could speak just fine. Honestly, what were the chances of someone getting their throat cut and surviving but losing their ability to speak? Some part of him asked what the chances were of someone getting healed by a girl with mutant powers, a part that he quickly demanded shut up.

No.

It had to be something else. Maybe he was too nervous to speak for whatever reason, maybe he was just dreaming. Yes, that must be it, this was just a dream. He would wake up at any moment and everything would be fine. He barely noticed how Diana's grip on his shoulder tightened slightly, a sign that this was not just a dream. But if this was a dream he could control it, right? As long as he was aware that it was a dream, which he was. That meant that when he tried again he would be able to speak perfectly fine, like this whole fiasco had never happened, and he would wake up in bed, Penny still crippled in the bathroom, everything completely fine.

Again he tied to speak, to yell that this was all some crazy dream that he needed to wake up from, to yell at everything and anything. And again he was silent but for a faint strangling sound at the back of his that that managed to create with an incredible amount of effort, which died before it could even leave his lips. Not to mention that it was incredibly painful to make, not worth the effort. Panic flashed across his face, sheer, unchecked panic that he would normally have scolded himself for letting show. Why wasn't he waking up!? He had to wake up, right fucking now! Because there was no way in hell this could be happening. There was no way he couldn't speak, no way he was  _mute_. He wasn't weak, there was no way Penny could do this to him, not after what he had done to her.

Sam took a step forward but Caine paid him no attention. Instead he pinched himself on the arm as hard as he could in an attempt to wake up, which he was still desperately telling himself he would. All that happened was a sharp burst of pain, no waking up, no miraculous reappearance of his voice. By now he was shaking in a mixture of denial and, although he would deny it if asked and he managed to form a response, fear. It was then that Diana found it within herself to act, having been stuck in her own shock for a moment.

"Caine," she hissed, "calm down." She tried to make it sound like a command, like she was all confident and he  _would_  do what she said. But he could still hear the undercurrent of fear in there, although whether it was fear for him or fear for himself he did not know. He did not pay her any attention, for the denial was starting to be joined by anger. Oh, it was still there, the hope, although it had indeed gone from a steadfast belief to a hope, that it was all a dream. But if it wasn't, if by some anti-miracle this nightmare had become his life, he had no idea what to do. He would be at a disadvantage, have a weakness, a rather large one at that. It made him scared, and the fact that he was scared made him angry.

With a snarl he got to his feet, although the effect was lessened slightly by how he swayed on his feet for a moment. Sam began to reach out but Caine moved out of the way as quickly as he could at the moment, crossing a few steps into the room, where he cast a quick glance around before setting his sights on a vase, probably a rather expensive one at that. Without any hesitation he flicked his hand, sending it flying off of the display it had sat on and into a wall, where it shattered into a million pieces. Behind him he heard someone mutter, "shit," but he didn't care to identify who. It didn't matter. That vase, it wasn't good enough. He was still angry, infuriated, and something was going to suffer for it.

The television across the room, huge and probably worth a small fortune, was lifted up by an invisible force and slammed into the ceiling, little fragments dropping to the ground. Fragments that, as Caine lost control of his anger and felt the need to seek more destruction, began to rise from the ground and spin like some sort of horrible shrapnel tornado. He heard someone behind him, saying something, or maybe yelling. He didn't know. He didn't care. Let Sam fire his laser hands at him and burn him to a crisp, he didn't care. Either he would wake up or wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. Each option sounded good at the moment.

He didn't notice that he was probably in a similar mindset to the one Diana was in when she had nearly fallen off the cliff.

What he  _did_  notice was a sharp sting suddenly flashing across his cheek along with the sound of a slap. The fragments of television, vase, and probably plenty of other ruined items that he hadn't cared to take inventory of dropped to the floor. In front of him stood Diana, her face rife with anger. Surprise was clearly written across his face. She had actually  _hit_  him. None of his followers had ever done such a thing, not unless they turned traitor. But then again, Diana wasn't exactly a follower, was she? He didn't think to feel angry at her or insulted, he was in far too deep with plenty of other emotions to deal with that. Anger at the world, fear, sadness, denial, and probably plenty of other things that were soon to come.

As for Diana? When he looked at her he saw the anger, yes, but he could swear she saw something else under there. He didn't know what it was at the moment, it was hidden far too deep for him to, but it was there. She did not hesitate to speak, instead jumping right to it when he still seemed to be in shock. "Enough," she growled. "You want to tear Penny into a million little bits?  _Fine_. I'd be more than happy to help with that, as a matter of fact. You know what you aren't going to do? Have a complete and total breakdown. Yes, you are well within your rights to, or you would be if that didn't involve  _flinging all sorts of sharp crap around_. Because I don't know about you, but I  _don't_  want to die because I was cut into tiny slices because you lost control for a moment. And, while we're on that topic, don't go and do anything stupid." She didn't clarify what she meant by stupid, leaving it to cover an incredibly large amount of things. However, somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that she probably meant getting himself killed, whether it be on accident or on purpose.

There was a pause, her waiting to see if he was going to do anything. She met his gaze head on, probably fully prepared to meet a glare. But he didn't glare at her, he wasn't sure he would be able to at the moment. The slap, while he didn't completely appreciated, had helped to pull him out of his blind rage. And, while he was still in shock, it was falling down to a different kind. Pain, sadness, loss, a feeling of being broken. He was Caine Soren, 'fearless leader', one of the only two four bars, one of the most powerful people in the FAYZ. How could this happen to him? How could he be weak enough for someone like Penny to be able to cause such damage? He didn't do anything, just met Diana's gaze with one that looked, for lack of a better word, lost.

She herself didn't look confident or well put together either. She looked tired, afraid, and worried. For a moment he felt guilty. He could have hurt her in his fury, just one wrong move was all it would have taken. It was this realization that made him look away and slowly scan the room. It looked like a disaster zone. However, it looked like only the area that had been in front of him was hit, which happened to be most of the room. A quick glance behind him revealed a stoic Sam, Lana looking down at the floor as if attempting to avoid looking at him at all costs, Dekka looking like she was ready for a fight, and Quinn looking absolutely terrified. Almost as soon as he looked at them he looked away, pride taking over. He wasn't weak he couldn't look weak in front of them, in front of his enemies.

Yet he didn't exactly feel like the strongest person alive right now.

He met Diana's gaze again. When she spoke this time it was quieter, meant for only him to hear, and had an undertone of what he assumed was that same feeling he couldn't quite figure out moments ago. "If I can't leave this hellhole neither can you."

What had he been thinking a moment ago, about not looking weak in front of Sam's crew? Whatever it was it was far from his mind at the moment. Despite not being able to say anything he knew that if he could he wouldn't have as he took a few steps to the nearest wall and slumped down against it, his head in his hands. Diana was equally silent as she sat down beside him. She didn't wrap her arms around him, didn't whisper reassurances, but she was there.

Caine Soren didn't cry, he not in private, not in public, and certainly not in front of a group of his enemies. Yet, as the thought crossed his mind, he felt tears beginning to leak down his cheeks.


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: What's this? Chapter four? Yes, it is! Now, before I actually get started with the chapter I wanted to thank you all, again, for reading, reviewing, favoriteing, and following! Now, to answer a question from No One Special(pssh, you reviewed this story, it makes you amazing, much better than special) yes, I have read Plague! And I am aware that several things that happen through the book, in fact all of the books after Lies, will be changed because of this. This story is basically a type of AU after Lies, and while I will be following the overall plots of the books plenty of things are up for changing. But before we actually enter Plague there is a month in between Lies and Plague, which is where we are now. Anyway, as the Doctor would say, Geronimo! Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Tienka.
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.

Diana had been absolutely determined not to fall asleep. She sat beside Caine for who knows how long, she certainly didn't, and ignored everyone else in the room. Her mind was whirling, trying to wrap itself around what had happened. Caine had lost his voice. Caine was mute. No matter how many times she repeated that in her head it didn't sound right. Caine, the boy with so much charisma and manipulative power that he had managed to get himself to the top of the Coates Academy pecking order even before he discovered his powers would never speak again. Sure, some part of her said that there was a tiny glimmer of hope, but must of her doubted it. Lana had said that there was something she couldn't fix before they had known what it was, and if the  _healer_  couldn't fix it there was no way anyone else in this damned fish bowl could.

She didn't speak as she sat beside him. Not only did she not know what to say but a good portion of her felt like it would be wrong if she did. He needed to think right now, not to have someone lecturing him or, as she normally would, snarking at him. But she also couldn't leave him alone. While Caine had always been good at hiding his emotions the fact remained that they were down there, somewhere and emotions could drive people to do crazy things. At the moment she had no doubt that he was not only feeling loss but anger, humiliation, and definitely denial, although she hoped that that stage wouldn't last too long. It would be dangerous to leave him alone, for both himself and others. Although some deeply engrained part of her tried to convince herself that she didn't care if he went and got himself cared. But then again, she had proven the exact opposite just moments ago, hadn't she?

That was why it was so important that she didn't fall asleep. And yet, sometime as she was sitting beside him, slumped against the wall, her vision began to grow fuzzy and her eyes closed against her will. How many hours had she been awake? Probably somewhere close to a day by now, as she had gotten up early the day before, and emotional exhaustion took just as much a toll as physical at times. God knew she had plenty of both.

When she awoke it was not one of those slow, fuzzy, reluctant to pull yourself out of bed things. As soon as her mind had surfaced enough for her to remember the events of the last day, she bolted upright, alarm on her face. Despite herself one of the first things she noticed was that she was on a couch, the exact same one Caine had been on earlier as a matter of fact. She didn't bother spending the time to question how she had gotten there. Instead she cast her gaze wildly about the room, searching for someone, not anyone, just one person in particular. Unfortunately it was not the one she was looking for she found, instead it was Lana that looked up at her from the chair the healer sat on, exhaustion on her face and a lit cigarette between her lips.

Before the healer could say anything Diana asked, "where is he!?" As soon as the words left her mouth she cursed herself for not pausing to get herself under control, the alarm sounded clearly in her voice, although it had been pretty evident on her face as well. Not only alarm though, no there was genuine worry there as well. Yet Lana did not look surprised, which made part of her wonder for a moment just how good she was at making herself seem completely cold and uncaring. But as soon as she thought that she shook it off, it didn't exactly matter at the moment, now did it?

Lana was quiet for a moment before she responded, watching Diana with narrowed eyes. Thinking about something certainly, although what she had absolutely no idea. Any number of things could be swirling through her head and at the moment she just wasn't in the mood nor state of mind to try and pick her apart. Finally she said, "outside, Dekka's with him. Quinn went to check on the boat, I think Sam's with him."

This caused surprise to flicker across her face for a moment. Not that Caine had gone outside, no, it made sense that he would probably be eager to track down Penny or take his anger out on the poor, innocent foliage. Nor was she particularly surprised that Dekka was with him, she doubted that Sam's crew would be willing to be on an island with the pair of them and Penny for any amount of time and allow him to go unwatched, especially after the grand display of telekinetic power that had left the room in shreds. No, it was the boat part that surprised her. They had a  _boat_ , as in, one that was still on the island? How in god's name had they pulled  _that_  one off? The rocky sides of the cliff weren't exactly a welcoming docking place.  _But then again,_  she told herself,  _they probably wouldn't risk it if they didn't have a way off._

Shaking her head to clear it of pointless, boat-related thoughts she stood up and began to head in the direction of the door without a word. However, just before she left the room she paused to ask, "why did you let me fall asleep? I didn't need it."

Lana's reaction was something similar to a harsh chuckle. Her voice was filled with bitter amusement when she said, "when we arrived you were covered in blood, still struggling to keep that egomaniac alive, had been there for hours judging by when we saw your flares, maybe even longer.  _Then_  you sat beside him for hours until he woke up and pulled him out of a blind rampage and generally stopped him from doing incredible amounts of destruction. No, you  _definitely_ didn't need sleep."

Diana couldn't help but narrow her eyes at this, a bit of annoyance coming off of her. She dished out sarcasm often enough and could certainly take what she gave, but that didn't mean she had to appreciate it every moment of every day. Especially when that sarcasm was just someone telling her that she was wrong. Her voice was tart as she replied, "you're one to talk. You have an uncanny resemblance to the living dead at the moment from where I'm standing."

The healer just shrugged, choosing not to comment on that particular tidbit. Instead she just took on a slightly musing tone to her voice as she said, "you must care a lot about him."

Diana chose not to respond.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

It came as a surprise to see the sun shining high in the sky when she walked outside. It was noon, at least, which only severed to help make anger well up inside her. They had let her sleep four  _hours_! Sleep while Caine was out doing who knows what who knows where. Well, whatever it was it probably wasn't only overly intelligent or useful. Never mind the many intelligent and/or useful things he had done in the past, Diana's default state of mind was that whatever he was doing, if she didn't know what it was, it wasn't good.

Thankfully it didn't take her long to locate him or figure out  _exactly_  what he was doing. As first she was alerted by a loud crashing/breaking sound and, soon after she turned to face the source of the noise, was greeted by the sight of a tree being launched off the side of a cliff. Thankfully this one didn't happen to be very far away, for she was in no way in a mood for walking half way across the island. With a small groan she began to head toward the site of the tree destruction, trying to push back and deny the seeds of worry trying to make their way into her mind. Some part of her that seemed to enjoy making the other parts of her mad laughed at this.  _Seed!?_ it exclaimed,  _there's a whole fucking_ _ **tree**_ _in there by now._

As she continued to walk she muttered to herself, "you know, they say taking to yourself is the first sign of insanity." There was a pause in which she frowned before bitterly saying, "although, I think everyone in here's passed the first sign a long time ago."

It seemed like as soon as she began the one-person conversation it ended. The arrival at her destination revealed a patch of clear grass that slowly turned to stone, also clear. Grass and stone that had absolutely no right to be clear. Not to mention the splintered remains of a tree stump and Caine, clearly sweating and staring out over the edge. He was the first thing she noticed, but he did not notice her arrival, not at first. Instead it was the girl leaning against one of the yet to be obliterated trees that brought her to his attention.

"We ran out of boulders and other various sorts of debris. Drastic measures had to be taken." Dekka's voice was emotionless as she spoke, as if talking about the weather. Part of Diana envied her ability to do that, for there was no doubt that the other girl had at least some sort of feelings inside her. Of course, Diana herself was normally very good at hiding how she felt, but when it came to stuff like this? Not so much, that was when she began to waver. Yet from what she had seen Dekka was unmovable. Her mockery toward the other girl about her sexual preferences hadn't destroyed her like she had expected it to. Even when Caine, the same boy she stood watching now, had encased her hands in cement she had refused to give in. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had expected Dekka to be gleeful about what might be seen as some sort of karma descending upon him. But if she was she was very good at hiding it.

Diana did not make any further comments about Dekka though, or even continue to look at her. Instead she turned her gaze back to Caine, who whirled around the moment she spoke with a surprised look on his face, one that he erased almost as soon as it arrived. Raising an eyebrow the brunette replied, "I see. Because clearly destroying our oxygen-giving friends, the trees, is the best way to deal with any stressful situation."

She saw the muscle on Caine's jaw twitch as he began to open it on impulse only for it to tighten as he forced himself to keep it closed. Not willing to humiliate himself by trying to speak and fail. For a moment something flickered across her face. Not pity, no, not only was she not the type to pity people often but she knew Caine wouldn't appreciate it one bit. More like regret, empathy. How those were different from pity she wasn't completely sure, but she did know that they were. Maybe because pity was reserved for those that were less than you, those that you looked down upon, those that were weak. Of course Diana had a rather high opinion of herself and looked down upon people often, Caine included, but h was not weak. But that didn't mean that he wasn't hurting.

And, for the brief moment that she showed the expression, he saw it and met her gaze. For a moment, just a quick moment, his shields slipped down. He looked sad, lost, scared, and so unlike himself. Proud, cocky Caine, with a swagger in his step and ready to take on the world. This was the one he showed in public most often, although there was another version that the people of the FAYZ had seen many a time. Caine the killer, a power-hungry boy willing to destroy anyone and anything that got in his way. Yet as she looked at him she saw neither. Instead he reminded her of the Caine she had taken care of for those months that he was under the control of the Gaiaphage, the fear she saw on his face for a moment when she fell off that cliff. This was not exactly the same as either of them, no, but it was the closest comparison she could get.

Within a moment both looks were gone, Diana's replaced with a mixed look of annoyance and indifference and Caine's a look of uncaring. He just gave a shrug before scanning the area for another thing to launch over the edge. It was clear that he was tired, you didn't just stand out there launching things off a cliff and, occasionally, tearing things out of the ground before launching them off a cliff without there being any effect. Yet he didn't seem to care. It was a way for him to get his anger and frustration out, she knew this. Heck, chances were everyone on the island knew this. And, possibly, everyone on the island knew about the fate of the tree. That is, if Lana came outside and Sam and Quinn were anywhere nearby.

Which, apparently, they were. There was the none-too-graceful sound of people approaching, which caused Caine to glare in that direction and begin to raise his hands. For a moment Diana hoped with all her heart that it was either Penny or Bug so she could witness them following the tree over the cliff. But no, the sound of someone falling followed by a muffled curse a very male, non-Bug voice pretty much obliterated any chance of that. Slowly Caine lowered his hands and soon enough Sam came into sight, Quinn following behind and rubbing his head behind him.

It looked like the surfer was going to speak for a moment but the sight of Caine stopped him. It actually caused a small smirk to cross her face. So, someone was still afraid. Didn't surprise her, Quinn never was one with much of a backbone. Instead it was Sam that spoke, his voice tense and prepared for some sort of trouble as he asked, "is everything alright?"

Diana gave a snort at this and rolled her eyes before gesturing to the stump and saying, "everything's fine, but apparently poor Mr. Tree committed some horrible act and needed to be punished." She ignored the glare Caine cast at her, the one that he seemed to have designed just for when she threw unnecessary sarcasm his way. Not intending on letting Sam continue on with the subject or along the same lines as it she asked, "so, what are you doing, anyway?"

It was said in a casual voice that personally drove her up the wall a little. There was no less than a ton of things she wanted to ask, about Drake's sudden return from the dead, about what was going on back on the mainland, if those kids had made it, and why on earth they had come to help them. But no, she wasn't just going to dive into asking questions like that. For one, it was tactless. And for another it just wasn't the right time. Not that making small talk felt right either. As a matter of fact it felt downright awkward. Sam seemed to feel a bit of this as well as he was silent for a moment before saying, "just checking on the boat, making sure it hasn't gotten loose."

Caine raised an eyebrow at this, surprise flickering across his face for a moment. "Yeah," Diana told him, "apparently they used some sort of witchcraft and managed to get their boat to the island  _and_ keep it in one place." Again she saw his jaw twitch and, as he felt another expression begin to try and replace his calm one, her forced in back into the emotionless mask. But she did notice the slight clenching of one fit. Not about the others managing to get their boat docked, no, but because he wasn't able to make some sort of remark about it. She wanted to say something but there was no way that would happen, not it front of everyone else, as it would probably do more harm than good.

Quinn spoke up around her for one of the first times since arriving. "I wouldn't call it witchcraft," he quietly said, "just rope and experience with boats."

Another moment of silence passed. It made Diana uncomfortable. When she was around Caine there was almost always someone talking, if not them having a conversation or her making comments about one thing or another then him going on a seemingly endless monologue. Which, before all this craziness had started, would often be interrupted by snarky comments from her and Drake. And when there wasn't that there was the constant whining of children, complaints that needed to be addressed. But silence? That was either the very rare comfortable silence, which this certainly was not, or when something was horribly wrong. This was certainly the horribly wrong sort of silence, though it seemed like no one was willing to jump forward and address the horribly wrong thing at the moment. Probably thanks to not only the natural desire to ignore elephants in rooms for as long as possible but a sense of self preservation.

Again it was Sam that broke the silence by asking, "wait… So you  _didn't_  get the boat to shore? Then how did you…" He trailed off, glancing at Caine and probably making the connection for himself.

But Diana couldn't just not say anything, it was too tempting of an opportunity. In a deadpan voice she said, "we grew wings and flew." This was followed by a roll of her eyes and her adding, "no, maybe flew wasn't the correct word. And maybe there weren't any wings involved at all. More like flung.  _Violently flung_  toward a cliff after running out of gas." Caine sent an annoyed glance her way. She returned it full force. No, there wasn't exactly a 'softly fling' or 'gently place' option, but she hadn't exactly been too excited about this island idea in the first place. No, they hadn't really had many other options at the time. And no, it hadn't seemed to have turned out that bad for a while. But now?

Now she was starting to think that she might have preferred the leper colony.

Sam winced, although whether it was from the sarcasm or the description of the flinging she did not know. She liked to think a little bit of both. However, it the quiet did not last long this time, as he soon went on to ask, "and how did you get to the top?"

This memory made her let out a bitter laugh while Caine frowned, not exactly fond of that particular bit. "Now that," she said, "that is the best part. You see, it turns out Caine can't just move something as far as he pleases, and the bottom to the top of the cliff happens to be beyond that limit. We climbed." Again Caine was glaring at her, although she was sure he didn't mean it. After all, he was acting like her normal self, or trying to anyway, and she was pretty darn sure that he would prefer that over anything else at the moment.

It was then that Dekka spoke up, saying, "Sam, you know I can only make things go  _up_ , right?" There was a serious note to her voice as she spoke, not that she didn't sound serious most of the time. Somehow the frown on Sam's face managed to deepen, Quinn paled, and the beginnings of a smirk actually began to move across Caine's face.

"Well," Diana muttered, "good luck with your climb down."

Sam looked up at her at this, a grave expression crossing his face. He didn't speak right away but for a moment she knew what was coming and, exchanging a quick glance with Caine, she got the feeling that he did as well. And he wasn't going to like it one bit. "You'll need that luck as well," he finally told her, "seeings as you'll be coming with us."

Caine's gaze snapped to Sam, a true glare crossing his features and his lips twisting into the beginning of a snarl. He didn't like being ordered around,  _especially_  by his brother. For a moment he had a lapse in memory and opened his mouth, only to snap it shut within seconds. Now the emotionless look he had forced himself to wear faded and the anger he was hiding showed through. And, as Sam looked at his twin, she saw a mixture of sadness and pity cross his face, which she knew probably wouldn't do any good. But Caine didn't start hurling things around just yet to Sam continued, "there's a psychopath that apparently wants to kill you somewhere around here, a psychopath that nearly  _did_  kill you. Plus you can't realistically expect to stay here forever, eventually the food will run out, the power will go out, _something_  will happen that will force you to return anyway."

He paused for a moment, waiting to see if Caine was going to do anything. When he didn't he finally finished, "and, quite frankly, it's risky leaving you two here. I heard a… interesting story about this place from some kids that crash landed a helicopter on a cliff." At this he glanced at Diana, as did Caine. Diana, who, couldn't help but feel relieved for a moment and felt it show through. It was on purpose that she didn't look at Caine, surely if those kids had told Sam everything he would know about her dive off the cliff. And, quite frankly, she wasn't ready to talk about that yet. That or the other things that had been said. After a brief pause he finished, "crash landed right after Mary Terafino jumped off a cliff on her fifteenth birthday and tried to take all the littles with her."

Now  _this_  got surprise out of both of them. That… wasn't a good thing. At all. Despite feeling that she already knew the answer Diana couldn't help but ask, "did she…?"

Sam nodded in response. Quinn spoke up again at this point, adding in a bitter voice, "let's not forgive the angry mob, thanks a lot for that, by the way, and Drake trying to kill us all."

Caine, who had turned to give Quinn a vicious glare at the mention of the human crew, one that made the fisherman take a few steps back, suddenly whirled to look at Sam at the mention of Drake. His eyes were wide and shock crossed his face, shock and anger. Even without words it was clear that he wanted, no,  _demanded_  answers. And with the pointed look she gave Sam Diana made it apparent she felt the same way.

"Yeah," Sam admitted, "I'm not very happy about it either. But we can't kill him." This was followed by Caine narrowing his eyes in disbelief. And, because he couldn't ask the question that she had no doubt was whirling about in both their minds, Diana chose to.

"Why the hell not!?"

Sam sighed before saying, "it's complicated. For one he heals from any injury he obtains now and, according to Brianna, can literally put himself back together. And, he didn't come back completely… himself." He paused at this, having trouble finding a way to explain. Finally he continued, "remember Brittney? She died at the power plant, or at least we thought she did. Well they fused together somehow and now he… she… it keeps morphing between Drake and Brittney." Again he fell silent, not needing to say anything else on the subject. He couldn't kill an innocent girl over something she couldn't control, especially not one that had already been through so much. Eventually he finished, "we have them captive, they're being held in Orc and Howard's basement."

Finally silence fell across the group, none of them saying anything else. Caine and Diana exchanged a long look. His was reluctant, angry, but also a little bit resigned. As much as he hated to admit it his brother had provided some valid points. Plus there was that little matter of Drake being alive and, more importantly,  _Orc_  being the one watching him. Orc had little self-control, they both knew it and had used it to their advantage when first taking over Perdido Beach. And now if that lack of self-control got the better of him it could lead to a disaster. They both knew what was going to happen, but that didn't mean they had to like it.

It was with a slightly bitter tone that Diana responded, "we'll go."


	6. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I am SO sorry for the delay; it feels like it took me forever to get this chapter up. School started on the fourth of this months, plus a lot of stuff has been going on in my roleplay, so with those things combined I've been rather busy. But fear not, here is the fifth chapter! Not only is this chapter, like the rest of the story, dedicated to Tienka but also Only If You Wish It, who was a great help in helping me figure something out for not only this chapter but the story in general as well. 3
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.

Not long after the little talk on the edge of cliff the group went inside. Well, more accurately Caine went inside, followed soon by Diana, the others coming not too long after. Probably talking discussing something they didn't want them to hear. Them, the evil coates kids that probably didn't even have hearts. The thought sent a sick jolt of amusement through him.

But maybe that wasn't completely true. Caine wasn't a good person, he knew that very well. One could say that he had no heart and they probably wouldn't be wrong. But Diana? No, the same couldn't be said for her. Even if it didn't show very often she did have the ability to care, was able to not only tell right from wrong but do something about it. Hadn't she proven that that day on the cliff, when she risked herself to save those kids? Maybe she was even able to love, no matter how much she seemed to have trouble believing it at times, even if he couldn't believe that she loved  _him_. But as for he himself, Caine Soren? Well he doubted he could feel those things. He was the bad guy, the villain, it was a  _fact_. No wonder they wouldn't want him to hear their little conversation, which was probably about him. Let them think what they wanted about him and call him whatever they wanted.

Not Diana though. She wasn't nice, no, but she wasn't  _evil_ , and she certainly wasn't heartless.

He pushed his musings to the back of his mind and, upon entering the house, moved over to his room without so much as glancing at Diana. From there was rest of the night was a fun little game of avoid anyone and everyone. No, he wasn't avoiding their looks of pity or afraid of facing them and feeling weak. He just… wanted to be alone. That was it.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

When he finally attempted to fall to sleep it came restlessly to say the least. A better description was probably that he stayed up for hours impatiently waiting for himself to slip out of consciousness despite how awake and active his mind was. Finally, after what felt like forever, it did indeed come. But it was far from pleasant. While he couldn't actually recall his dreams he knew that they weren't pleasant, if waking up incredibly early in the morning covered in sweat was any hint. For one horrifying moment he wondered if he had actually  _screamed_  in his sleep. Then came the realization that he couldn't scream anymore. It came with a tint of anger and bitter amusement. He had always hated it when he screamed, hadn't he? It always made him sound weak, like he needed help. Well now he couldn't scream even if he wanted to.

If that wasn't irony he didn't know what was.

It was then that he felt his thoughts begin to turn down the road of self-pity. Oh no, that just would  _not_  do. A snarl worked its way across his face as he violently shoved the thoughts out of his mind. It didn't matter if he was in a position that plenty of people would probably say that he had more than earned a little bit of self-pity. Self-pity was for the weak, those that had already given in, people that had accepted defeat. He was none of those things, and he  _certainly_  wouldn't go around pitying himself.

 _So all these thoughts about weakness_ , some narcissistic voice in the back of his head said,  _it isn't just a way to keep from feeling oh so sorry for yourself? Because denial probably isn't much better than self-pity._

Now this only helped to strengthen his anger. And it wasn't even anger directed at a person, just general anger about the world. He had only  _just_  woken up, hadn't even talked to anyone, and had already managed to make himself royally pissed off. Oh, today was going to be  _magical_ , he just felt it.

With a quick shake oh his head he climbed out of bed, made his way over to the dresser, and pulled on some clean clothes. No one else was awake at the moment, or at least he assumed so, they would have to be insane to get up before dawn even arrived, but that didn't mean he was going to risk looking all undignified if he was wrong.

Once he was dressed he headed downstairs and began to walk. Not in any particular direction, just wandering about, just because he could. It was as he was doing this that he realized two things. One, it was actually a little later than he had originally thought, for there was a faint bit of pink beginning to show on the horizon. Not that he had gone outside, it just so happened that the mansion had a great many windows. Two, there was indeed an insane person in this house, other than himself of course.

It was when he entered the kitchen that he saw his brother, sitting in a chair against the counter and gazing off in the distance. Caine glanced at him for a moment, briefly wondering what on earth he was doing up at this time, before deciding that he really didn't care and starting to turn around, intending on leaving before he could be noticed. But apparently his twin had the ears of a freaking  _bat_ , for just as he started to turn around Sam glanced in his direction.

"Hey," the 'good' twin murmured. For a moment he cursed both the other boy's ears and his luck for walking into what was probably the only room, other than a bedroom, that had an awake person in it. And the fact that Sam happened to be that person? That was just salt in the wound. But still, he had been spotted, and that little thing called pride wasn't going to let him just walk away. If he did that he might look like he was running, and Caine was  _not_  going to run from Sam. So he turned around, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

And then, for one moment, Caine swore that Sam's memory and his incredible tendency to be very sensitive around anyone that might be dealing with anything emotional at the moment both crawled out his ear and made a break out of the crazy town that was the FAYZ. Because when he opened his mouth again it was to ask a question. Not a simple yes or no question that could be answered with a nod or shake of his head, no, one of those questions that required words. Caine wasn't the type to get all heartbroken and break down crying when he realized he couldn't answer, but he was well within his rights to be annoyed about it. However, Sam looked like he was more affected by it than he was. For as soon as she asked, "what are you doing up?" his eyes widened in horror and he looked like he was about to frantically backpedal.

When he opened his mouth it looked like he was going to apologize and Caine would be having  _none_  of that, talking to him like he was some little kid whose feelings had been gravely hurt. So before his brother could get the first syllable out he raised his hand, a clear signal for him to stop whatever he was saying. Without waiting for any sort of response or try and figure out his expression he headed over to one of the counters and began looking around. The thing was a mess, a group of young children living in it unsupervised for months hadn't exactly put it in immaculate condition and upon arriving the coates kids had made absolutely no effort to straighten it up. But before long he found what he had swore he saw a few days ago, a half-used pack of sticky notes, and from there it was easy enough to find a discarded pen.

Allowing himself a brief moment of smugness he headed over to the counter Sam was sitting at, which he leaned against as he wrote, ' _I wanted to be up._ ' He then pushed it forward, not bothering to hide the hint of a smirk spreading across his face.

Sam had to squint slightly to read it as it was rather dim in the kitchen, but neither of them were about to go and turn more lights on and risk waking everyone up. It only took him seconds to read it though and as soon as he did he sent Caine a look of complete and utter disbelief. It showed in his voice as he said, "you just wanted to be up… at the crack of dawn?"

Caine responded by sending him a narrow-eyed look of annoyance. He didn't even bother writing down a response, he didn't have to explain himself to him, especially if he knew that he was lying and might try and get him to explain what the real reason was. Not that he would, it was just an annoyance he didn't want to deal with. Sam let out a sigh before saying, "whatever. I, personally, couldn't sleep." This was followed by a pointed glance at Caine, which he pointedly ignored. Maybe walking away wouldn't have been so bad after all.

A pause fell over the pair as Sam struggled to find something to say and Caine contemplated going back to bed. After all, even sitting in a room staring up at a ceiling, possibly arguing with himself, had to be better than this. But before he could reach a decision on whether that would be happening or not Sam apparently found something to say. "It probably isn't bad that we woke up early, it will take a while to boat back to the mainland, and I imagine climbing down that cliff won't exactly be extremely speedy."

His only response was a roll of the eyes followed by Caine writing, ' _ **really**_ _!? And here I thought we would be instantly teleporting over there.'_  Despite the sarcastic words he wrote he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous at the thought of returning to Perdido Beach. After indirectly starting a fire that had caused who knew how much damage he doubted it would be a very warm welcome from the general public, not to mention that wonderful thing called politics he would be doubt have to deal it. Some part of him began to hope that his brother wouldn't continue to pursue the subject of the travel back or the mainland, as likely as it seemed that he would.

And, miracle of miracles, he didn't. Instead Sam rolled his eyes at the note before asking, "so… Any chance you'd be willing to share where you keep the food around here?"

Relief flashed through him at the words. Food, food he could talk about. It was a safe enough subject when starving wasn't an immediate threat, although there was a chance that it wouldn't stay that way for long. Pushing  _that_  unpleasant thought away he quickly wrote down, ' _there's cereal, crackers, ramen, and various other unidentified crap in the cupboard. Also some batter and whatnot, but it's not worth fighting with the oven for. Same goes for all the frozen stuff._ '

Sam was silent for a moment as he read this, but then a look of sheer disbelief crossed his face. "So you're telling me," he began, "that you ran off to a multi-million dollar mansion and have been surviving off of that stuff… just because you couldn't be bothered to use a stove?" When he finished the disbelief began to give way to amusement. Caine, however, suddenly felt very indignant.

He wrote as fast as he could as he scribbled out, ' _No! Have you even looked at that thing? There's no way it's useable._ ' This was shortly followed by a gesture toward the stove across the room. It was true that it looked like a rather advanced piece of machinery but surely  _someone_  could use it, never mind that two fifteen year olds probably weren't the someone's that the creators of the machine had in mind.

A small smile began to cross Sam's face as he laughed, "yeah right. You know, I think it's just that you can't cook." He could see Caine bristle at the insult, he  _knew_  he could, and part of him thought that he found that even more amusing, which only served to further his anger. Quite frankly it took quite a bit of self-control to stop himself from hurling him across the room. Any other time sure, but not when he _possibly_  owed his bother. Maybe. If he did he wouldn't be letting him know that. Yes, he might have helped save his life, but he certainly wasn't going to start kissing his shoes for it.

Just no wall throwing.

Yet.

Instead he wrote down, pausing to glare at his twin between words, ' _I'd like to see you actually get anywhere with that thing._ '

While Caine himself might have been the kind to rarely, if ever, back down from a challenge he knew very well that he brother was not him in any way, shape, or form, and so he wasn't completely sure what to expect. Sam was silent for a moment before standing up and, in an attempt at a proud voice, declaring, "watch me." Caine just rolled his eyes at this and sat down in one of the chairs, leaning back, fully prepared to watch his brother make a fool of himself.

At first he actually did alright. He walked toward the cabinets, rummaged through them for a moment, before triumphantly pulling out what looked like a tattered box of pancake batter. Caine gave a slow, mocking clap at the sight of this, which Sam returned with a quick glare.  _Congratulations,_  he wanted to say,  _you managed to locate a box._  The moment he caught himself thinking what he would normally be saying he felt the self-pity threaten to return, which he quickly shoved away. No, there would be absolutely none of that.

Turning his gaze back to the cabinets he began to open other doors, clearly looking for something. Things were shoved, noise was made, the look on the teen's face became more and more frustrated, and Caine's smirk grew wider. Finally Sam gave in and asked, "so… where do you keep the bowls?"

Before he got up and made any attempt to help him he wrote a note which said, ' _and you were questioning_ _ **my**_ _ability to cook.'_  With that he stood up and headed toward the cabinets himself, flicking the note at his brother as he did so.

As he read it Sam scowled before exclaiming, "I said  _nothing_  about finding bowls in the labyrinth you call a kitchen." Caine didn't bother responding to this, instead opening a door, one that Sam had already opened as a matter of fact, and shoving some metal trays out of the way to reveal a large glass bowl hidden behind them. As he pulled it out he managed to confirm that telekinetic does not automatically mean graceful or with fast enough reflexes to catch anything when their attention might be elsewhere, as the trays came falling to the ground with a great clatter.

Immediately he glared at Sam, who looked like he was about to burst out laughing, just  _daring_  him to make a comment. But as it turned out it wasn't his brother that he had to worry about, as he soon heard the sound of loud, angry footsteps, which was closely followed by a rather peeved looking Diana barging into the kitchen. She surveyed the situation for about a second before growling, "what the  _fuck_  are you two doing at this time in the morning and  _why_  is it so loud?"

Caine's first instinct was to try and make some sharp-tongued, sarcastic remark toward her, but that might not work very well if he had to write it out on a small stick note which he would then have to give to her. At the very least it would give her plenty of time to launch some more barbs his way, easily making her the winner of any verbal match that might occur. So for once he found himself glancing at his brother, waiting for him to respond and hoping that it was at least something worth saying.

It was not, of course it wasn't.

"Erm…" Sam began, and already Caine was resisting the urge to bash his head into a wall.  _Never_  begin an argument or defense with erm,  _ever_! It was basically admitting that you had lost before you had even begin. Ignoring Caine's look that clearly said to stop himself from saying whatever garbage was clearly about to spill from his mouth he continued, "well Caine said, well, wrote something about not fighting with the oven, I said that I didn't think he could cook, I think he meant that he could and I  _know_  he said that he'd like to see me do better, so…"

When he finally finished Diana was looking at Sam as if he had just suggested that maybe love was the way to break down the FAYZ barrier, and Caine was looking up at the ceiling and again forcing himself not to use his powers for petty, word-punishing purposes. What he said was the truth, yes, but he had also managed to say it in what he was pretty sure was the most awkward way possible.

It wasn't long at all before she turned her sights on Caine and exclaimed, "but you  _can't_  cook! For god's sake Caine, you burn toast,  _toast_! And if Sam is anything like most fifteen year old boys he sure as hell can't work a high-tech oven either." A slight look of triumph crossed Sam's face at the confirmation that his original assumption was correct, but Caine paid no attention to that. Sam implying that he couldn't do something was one thing, but  _Diana_? It didn't matter that she had seen him fail at that thing many a time, he was going to prove her wrong if it was the last thing he did.

So, with his head held high, he walked over to the fridge, opened it up, and pulled out a carton of eggs. Any milk in the house had long since expired but surely water would make do, right? Never mind that they didn't actually  _need_  eggs as you just needed to add water to this particular batter, neither of them actually planned on reading the instructions. It was all intuitive, right?

Somewhere behind him he heard Diana mutter, "I swear to god, if I die in a fire you start I will come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your life, both of you if more than one makes it out." Caine completely ignored that little comment, instead pouring a large amount of the mix into a bowl, not even bothering to try and measure of it. Meanwhile Sam figured that Diana's insult had been enough to push him into joining in and grabbed a cup and filled it with water. Not a measuring cup mind you, just a random coffee mug. It was then added to the mix, which was soon followed by two eggs which, after their presence failed to make it look like anything resembling batter, they silently agreed could only be solved by adding another egg.

Caine heard footsteps behind him and turned around slightly to see Diana looking down at the mixture with a look of disgust. Sam, who was looking at it with an expression that showed the he knew that something definitely was not right, began, "maybe we should-"

However, before he could finish that thought Diana interrupted, "I swear to god Temple, if you finish that sentence with 'add another egg' someone's going to get slapped." He fell silent at this, which sent a wave of amusement through Caine. It seemed even the big hero of the FAYZ wasn't going to risk arguing with Diana when she had been woken up early in the morning by him taking part in something she swore was stupid.

With that Sam grabbed a wooden spoon that he had grabbed, because apparently using whisks was for those that wanted the easy way out, and began to stir. The results were lumpy, had a texture that, while none of them touched it, he assumed resembled dough, and had a slight yellow tint. It was then that Quinn walked in, apparently also woken up by the clatter but much slower in arriving. Or not wanting to get involved in what might have been a fight. As he entered a look of confusion crossed his face and he opened his mouth, only for Diana to beat him to the punch. "They, for some reason known only to their diseased minds, decided to try cooking and wake everyone up in the process."

Diana received a glare for this, which she responded to with one of her own. Quinn blinked a few times, probably trying to get over the shock of seeing Sam and Caine cooking, or attempting to cook, together, before saying, "but Sam… dude… you  _really_  can't cook."

Immediately Diana let out a sharp laugh at this. "I freaking knew it! But apparently with their powers combined the fact that neither of them can cook will  _magically_ evaporate." Despite his annoyance with Diana he took the opportunity to poke at his brother, making the sticky notes and pen fly from the other counter to the one they were currently cooking on to write one word, ' _hypocrite_.'

Sam glanced at the note, glanced at Caine, looked like he really wanted to say something, and instead shook his head. He then grabbed a pan, removed from the cabinet during his search for a bowl and, although he did not know it, the exact opposite of what you should use on that kind of stove. As he placed it on one of the burners Caine poured a large amount of the batter in, much more than should have been used anyway. Diana snorted in the background and he heard her muttering something to Quinn, although he could not make it out. For some reason unknown to him he felt a sudden flash of something that might resemble jealousy over her talking to him, but before he could really think about it he was interrupted by a great pillar of black smoke starting to rise from the pan.

While he turned around to gaze at Diana, still in her nightgown he couldn't help but note, Sam had turned on the stove, setting it at a five. He didn't know what exactly five meant and assumed it was a medium or relatively low setting, but apparently that was very wrong.

Caine took a step back, Sam had an alarmed look on his face, Quinn muttered something that sounded like a curse word, and Diana hissed, "you. Me. Afterlife. See you there." For a few moments they stood there in shock, wondering exactly where they had gone wrong that it was already smoking like this. That few moments was all it took for the pan to begin to bubble. A big, hot-read lump began to form in the middle of the pan, rising as it threatened to pop. Not wanting to wait around and see what would result if  _that_  happened Caine frantically waved his hand, causing the pan to fly from the stove and into the sink with a rather loud clatter, spilling drops of batter across the floor as it did so. Unfortunately it wasn't quite fast enough, as all that smoke managed to set off the fire alarm, waking up anyone that might have possible been sleeping.

As Caine quickly turned off the oven, which was still sporting smoking specks of batter that looked like they were going to burst into flame any minute now, Sam and Diana rushed toward the sink and turned on the water to cool down the burning pan, which caused more smoke. Quinn rushed around to open some windows and release some of the smoke from the rapidly-filling room. Meanwhile, the sound of rapid footsteps alerted him that there would probably be a  _lot_  of explaining to do.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

One round of arguing about stupidity and pride, many sarcastic commented, and quest to find a way to turn off the fire alarm later and they ended up having a breakfast of cereal and crackers, Sam and Caine refusing to make eye contact while Diana smirked at both of them.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**


	7. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: That was… an unfortunately long time to have to wait for another chapter. Horribly long. So long it was wrong. I am so sorry about that, I'm afraid school started and then this weekend, when I was planning on getting this chapter done, I managed to get sick. I'm actually still sick right now but come hell or high water I am DETERMINED to her this chapter up. Anyway, this chapter, as well as the entire story, happens to be dedicated to Tienka. Onward, to victory!
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.

The sun was well in the sky by the time everyone had eaten and made their way out to the cliff and Diana had reached a level of irritation that the good folks at Coates Academy had learned to fear long ago. And it just so happened that she didn't seem to be the only one in an abysmal mood. Lana was glaring at anyone that dared talk to her, leaving her with an impressive bubble of space as everyone made their personal preparations for the climb down. 'Personal preparations' meaning forced themselves to accept that they would soon be climbing down a cliff above some very sharp, very painful rocks with only a temperamental telekinetic and a girl with the ability to cancel gravity to save them if they slipped.

Wasn't life  _wonderful_?

Diana cast her gaze around the assembled group. Although, glare was a much better word than gaze at the moment. Sam and Dekka stood off to the side, murmuring in low voices about something. Lana was standing a little ways away from them and kicking thoughtlessly at the ground while Quinn hovered a little ways away, glancing at the healer every now and then. At another time she might have wondered if something was going on there but she had been woken up at a time which nothing deserved to be woken up at, was about to face the cliff again, and then had to fun little drama explosion that was sure to await them on the shore to look forward to. So yes, she was beyond caring about the healer's relationship status with the fisherman at the moment. The one farthest away from the others at the moment was, predictably, Caine. He kept switching between glancing at Sam and Dekka, probably trying to make out whatever they were hearing, and looking at Diana, who made sure to avoid his gaze.

Anyone that noticed that probably assumed that this was because of getting woken up. Or at least she prayed to god that they thought that it was because she was still angry about getting woken up. The fact of the matter was the cliff just wasn't a good place for them. First the movie-star brats had made their escape, causing Diana to confess her love for him, something she was currently trying to keep at the back of her mind, and nearly fall off the cliff only for him to save her. And then Penny had nearly killed him and caused this whole fiasco to happen, right on this freaking cliff.

So yeah, hanging around Caine at this place wasn't exactly something that seemed very fun to her.

Without a word Diana turned to face away from the group and began to make her way toward the edge of the cliff. She could practically  _feel_  Caine's eyes on her, no doubt preparing to yank her from the edge again. Not that he would need to, in fact she scowled at the thought. She just wanted to take a look, see just how the wonder fisherman had managed to get the boat secured to that cliff.

Of course when she actually looked it wasn't anything exciting at all, in fact it probably wasn't even worth looking. The boat had been pushed in a crevice between two rocks and then tied to another, making in at least slightly secure. Although she had no doubt that when she got close enough to take in some details there would be some scratches on the side. And maybe, if luck  _really_  wanted to mess with them today, a leak.  _Although,_  she mused,  _if it had a leak it would be mostly submerged by now, wouldn't it?_

Despite herself she couldn't help but feel a little curious as to how Quinn managed it. Of course, from what she understood he had been a surfer before the FAYZ, maybe his knowledge in that had passed onto boats somehow? She leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the boat. It was then that she felt a bit of stone begin to crumble beneath her foot. It was not much, she was not at risk of falling, but she did let out a little yelp and flail her arms out slightly for balance. It was then that her suspicions about being watched were proven correct as she felt herself yanked back several feet, arms flailing wildly and only just managing to stay on her feet.

As soon as the invisible force let her go she whipped around, annoyance written across her face. All eyes were on her, of course, although she wasn't bothering to look at everyone. Instead she glared at Caine, who had a rather alarmed expression on his face, which began to fade as he took in how Diana looked. "Jesus!" she spat. "You know, I do have  _some_  semblance of balance." That was where she would have stormed off in a normal situation. But they weren't exactly in a normal situation, and it probably wouldn't help for her to go running off to some other part of the island. So she settled for turning away from Caine, who's alarmed expression had turned to a glare, and walking to the part of the group as far away from him as possible. Which, as it happened, turned out to be near Quinn and Lana.

As she was walking past she couldn't help but notice Quinn murmur, "I guess the rumors about the cliff jump are true then." And, somehow, she didn't think that he was talking about Mary Terafino's big display.

The moment the words hit her ears she whipped around to snarl at the boy, "shut it, fisherman!" He paled at her words, causing a small bit of smugness to flash through her. However, it didn't long as Lana stepped forward, eyes narrowed at the other girl.

"Hey," she growled, "don't take your relationship problems out on him. When you run away to some movie star island only for a helicopter full of kids to come back with some wild tale that really doesn't seem that wild at all  _people are going to talk_."

She could feel people around her tensing, preparing for a fight to break out. After all, they had been together for quite a while without some sort of confrontation already. Surely one was overdue, even with these unique circumstances? But Diana did not look at anyone else to see if her assumptions were correct. Instead she met Lana's eyes as she forced an utterly fake smile across her face and said through clenched teeth, "oh, I know all about rumors, but I would hope that  _people_  would have the brains to not talk about them when the subject of the rumors is within hearing range."

A tense silence fell upon the group, only for it to be broken by the sound of Sam clearing his throat. "Right," he began, "maybe we should get going now? We don't want to get caught out in the night after all." An attempt to break up the blossoming fight without getting himself directly involved. For a moment it did not work, neither of the girls wanting to look away.

After what felt like a century, even though it was only a few seconds in reality, Lana responded, "couldn't agree more." With that they looked away from each other and headed closer to the others. Despite herself Diana moved to stand beside Caine, both of them refusing to look at each other.

"So," Quinn asked, "whose going first?"

The look Diana shot him was one that clearly stated that she couldn't believe he even had to ask. Her voice was dry as she said, "I vote the people that don't have to worry about plunging to their deaths." Quinn looked at the ground at this, Lana sent an annoyed glance at Diana, and Diana smirked. Meanwhile Dekka gave a small nod and stepped forward, pausing only to glance at Caine, who rolled his eyes before reluctantly following after her.

As they began to make their way down the cliff Diana tried her best to fight off the worry that was growing inside her, or at least tell herself that it was worry for herself. There was no logical reason to worry about Caine falling, she really shouldn't care if any of the others fell, and as for herself? She certainly didn't plan on letting herself slip.  _Besides,_  some bitter voice reminded her,  _even if you did I don't think Fearless Leader would let you have an easy out any time soon._

God she hated emotions at times.

A couple minutes after Caine and Dekka started climbing Sam moved forward, Diana following out of the incredible desire to not look like a coward. Although she didn't look behind her she had a hunch that Quinn was the last to get moving, the boy wasn't exactly made of bravery after all.

For the first stretch the climb itself was just as fun as she recalled it being the first time, meaning not at all. She swore she could feel every dent and point in every stone her foot touched thanks to the soles of her shoes beginning to wear out. For a moment she cursed herself for not thinking to search the mansion for something else her size, because there was certainly no going back up now. The stones she grabbed with her hands still managed to make her palms feel rather raw despite how the skin had thickened. Another thought that made her scowl. A year ago she would have hated the idea of her hands being anything other than nice and soft, now she was worried about them being too soft.

Despite having been one of the first ones to start climbing she soon found herself the farthest up. However, it was to her pleasure that she noted that so far she was the only one that hadn't slipped and needed to be caught. It was as this thought crossed her mind that she heard a yelp and craned her head down to see Sam very nearly detach from the cliff, only for Caine to reach his hand out and freeze him in place, allowing the other boy to secure his grip on the wall again. With a snort Diana called down, "I'll bet you'd trade your laser hands for lizard fingers in a second now, huh?" It was meant to be a snarky comment, maybe to point out the other boy's current weakness and make him feel uncomfortable. However, Sam took it in stride.

"Yeah," he called back up to her, "or whatever magic you've been using to have not slipped yet."

Diana couldn't help but let out a slightly bitter laugh at this before pointing out, "well, they did always call me a witch."

After that the group lapsed into silence for a bit. As she climbed she swore that this was taking  _much_  longer than it had when they had climbed up. But then again, when they were climbing up there had been less people, one of which had been considered to be on the expendable side at the time.  _Funny,_  she mused,  _if it had just been Penny and Bug he left floating instead we wouldn't be in this mess._  For a moment her mind wandered to Paint and Tyrell, wondering what had become of them. They would certainly be dead by now, something told her Sam would have mentioned it if they had rescued a pair of Coates kids that had been left floating. And, for a second, she found herself hoping that their deaths had been quick.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of someone letting go of the stone. Alarm flashed through her as she glanced down, only to see Caine leaping down from where he stood about three feet above a large, relatively flat stone. Beside that stone was the boat, looking rather worse for wear from its perch on the stone. As soon as he was on the stone he began to step toward it and, before anyone could say anything, waved his hand and dislodged it from the rocks. Diana wouldn't be surprised if the entire group had held their breath as it bobbed there for a moment, the rope the only thing keeping it from floating off now.

Despite the distance she could swear she saw a smug smirk begin to cross Caine's face. Breaking the silence she called out, "if you broke it yanking it out of there you get to be the one worrying about fixing it, even if you have to bail the water out yourself." His response was to look up at her and smirk before gesturing toward the boat. She could almost read his thoughts,  _of course_  he didn't break it, there was no way he would be careless enough to disable their only means of mistake. This egotistical response she did not dignify with words, instead focusing on the wall and her continued climb down.

Soon enough Dekka was on the ground, followed closely by Sam. That was when Quinn called out, "hey, guys? I think I'm stuck." Her quest to keep climbing forgotten for the moment she glanced down at the fisherman who, sure enough, was clinging onto the wall for dear life without a foothold in sight.

Immediately a laugh left Diana, which Quinn met with a glare up in her direction. She just smirked down and teased, "what, afraid of a little drop?"

The fisherman looked absolutely flustered as he exclaimed, "it is not a  _little_  drop!" Indeed, he was at least fifteen feet high, and with stone waiting for him at the bottom it wouldn't exactly be a comfortable fall. "Besides," he added, his cowardice apparently leaving him for a moment, "I don't think you should be talking, you're even higher up than I am!"

This was true, and for a moment she felt annoyed that it was true. But she refused to let him get to her as she jeered, "yeah, but you don't see someone needing to rescue me, do you? It's like a reverse Rapunzel!" The group on the land, which now included Lana, who had made her way down while Diana and Quinn were arguing, appeared to be discussing Quinn's imminent rescue. However, Caine appeared to have only been half listening as he looked sharply up and sent a glare at Diana at the mention of Rapunzel, doubtlessly despising the comparison of him to a princess, or maybe the prince charming when Quinn was the princess. Either way, it was rather amusing.

This showed in her voice as she called down, "what? You certainly used enough hair product pre-FAYZ to fit the part!" Caine quickly glared at Sam, who she had assumed snickered, before looking up at Diana with narrowed eyes and gesturing up at her. She just snorted at this before responding, "yeah, well I'm a girl. What's  _your_  excuse."

Diana swore she heard a groan from Quinn, who looked just about ready to give up on life when she glanced down at him. Maybe it had something to do with her having an argument with Caine while he was trapped on a cliff. Either way, she snickered at his misfortune. Or at least she did until the horrifying fear that she was turning into Drake shot through her.  _But then again,_  she told herself,  _he_ _ **was**_ _talking about me before. So really this is just karma._

And so, as Quinn was telekinetically removed from the cliff and gracelessly dropped in the boat Diana snickered and enjoyed every minute of it. Or at least she did until she came upon the realization that she was now the only one on the cliff, which meant that everyone was waiting for her to make her way down and judging her for her slowness. With this eating away at her mind she picked up the pace, and in the process accidentally dropped her caution.

That was how she found herself stepping onto another foothold only to have trouble keeping her feet in it, unable to move back up in the direction she had come without risking falling, and unable to move to the sides. Immediately dread and a bit of denial formed inside her. Oh no, she was  _not_  stuck, not after the teasing she had just put Quinn through after finding himself in the same situation. She  _would_  get off, she would  _not_  ask for help, and  _no one_  would know.

But as it turned out that was easier said than done. For, after a few minutes of trying to move and only getting a few inches in either way, she heard Lana's voice begin to call up, "Diana…" Immediately she craned her head around to see Lana smirking, Quinn looking  _very_  amused, Dekka holding back a smile, Sam looking like he was dreading something, and Caine's hand twitching at his side.

Her voice was a hiss as she said, " _don't_  say it." Then to Caine she added, "and you  _do not_  move." He looked up at her and met her gaze, the look on his face saying that he was sure he knew what was going to happen. How she had gotten this good at reading Caine's facial expressions she wasn't sure. But then again, she hadn't needed to worry about that before nearly as much as she did now, had she?

Turning her gaze back to the wall she started to try and climb down, only to feel rock starting to crumble away beneath her feet. "Diana," Sam called, "if you're stuck there's no shame in asking for help." She almost laughed out loud at this. Did Temple even realize who he was talking to? Asking for help was  _not_  something she particularly excelled at. Besides, there was a bigger issue at hand that needed to be addressed.

"I am  _not_  stuck."

Lana's voice sounded at this, amusement showing in every word, "really? Because from where I'm standing it doesn't look like you're going anywhere fast." Diana didn't bother responding to this, instead growling to herself and letting out a string of curses under her breath. There was a clear teasing note in the healer's voice as she added, "besides,  _Quinn_  did it, I'm sure your dignity can survive the blow."

Okay,  _now_  they were just pushing her buttons. Forgetting her attempts to get down at the moment she looked back at the group to exclaim, "Quinn has no dignity!" As she spoke her gaze went to Caine, whose smirk had widened. However, that was nothing compared to Quinn, who looked like he was trying his hardest to not put on a Cheshire cat impersonation.

Part of her expected it to be Quinn that spoke next, but instead it was Dekka's voice that called, "come on Rapunzel, we need to get going."

Despite not exactly having a mirror on hand she swore that she could feel her face beginning to turn red. She opened her mouth to spit something back when the remainder of the foothold she stood on, which had been slowly crumbling away, finally gave in. For one horrifying moment she was holding onto the face of the cliff with only her hands, feet kicking in midair, when she was yanked from the cliff and into the boat. Thankfully Caine had the decency the leave her sprawling in one of the tattered chairs this time instead of just dropping her on the ground.

As she straightened herself out, humiliation rushing through every fiber of her being, she heard someone mutter, "you really don't get along well with cliffs, do you?" Unfortunately she was unable to identify exactly who said it, possibly because of how the sound of her heart pounding seemed to drown most everything out.

But despite that rather jarring experience as everyone that had not been on the boat filed on the boat she spat to Caine, "that was  _completely_  unnecessary." Caine, who had been watching her and simultaneously trying to hide any sign of concern, just rolled his eyes in response.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Later on, once the boat had been pulled out and made some distance from the island, Diana gave him a quick nod of thanks when she didn't think anyone was looking, although she wasn't even sure he was looking. It didn't matter, she wasn't going to do it again. But despite her words she had been rather stuck, and at least he had saved her from having to ask.

And, when Diana wasn't looking, Caine smiled back at her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I got the plague. I like to think that tells you all that you need to know as far as why I haven't updated for so long and too much all at once. Anyway, I'm not someone that likes to beg for reviews or will say no new chapter until X amount of reviews are posted, but this is just a reminder that they are always appreciated. I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed this story so far and allowed us to reach 20 reviews, and I would also like to thank those that have nominated this fic for the 2013 Gone fanfiction awards! I am proud to announce that 'Silence' has been nominated in several categories, and all I can say is thank you. 3 As always, this chapter is dedicated to Tienka.
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.

You know what it feels like to be walking toward your execution? Caine might not have ever headed to something that had actually been arranged and declared his execution before but he had been in enough life or death situations to know the feeling well. He felt rather like that at the moment, but not quite. He knew that he wasn't going to die, not only were the townies far too riot without their precious leader ordering them too but he liked to think that he could take on the entire lot and come out victorious. (Well, as long as certain people weren't involved in the fight, then it would probably be a bit harder.) No, he was going to face death by politics. Only this time he couldn't stand up and try to charm, lie, manipulate, and cheat his way out of it. Yes, he still had his powers, and that alone should be enough to threaten people into remaining quiet for a while. But eventually people would ask questions, the truth would come out, and he was  _not_  looking forward to it.

"Stop moping, would you."

An almost bored sounding command cut through his thoughts. Thoughts that he immediately began to try and tell himself where definitely  _not_  moping the moment those words hit his ears. Never mind that he was paying absolutely no attention to his surroundings was seated at the back of the boat and as far from everyone else as he could get, and was slumped over slightly. Caine Soren did  _not_  mope. As if to rub this in he straightened up and shot Diana a glare. Diana, who had apparently moved to stand in front of him sometimes during his musing, crossed her arms, and not looked thoroughly unimpressed. With a shake of her head she continued, "seriously, I've spent more than enough time on this freaking boat but these will be the last moments of peace we'll have for a while, and I don't want to spend them with you skulking about in emo corner." As Caine continued to glare at her she rolled her eyes, allowing a moment of silence before she raised her voice so everyone could hear to add, " _especially_  if we end up taking another unexpected detour."

This was followed by a glare at Sam, who turned around to give her a look of annoyance. Although he couldn't help but feel that there was a tad of embarrassment that his brother was trying oh so desperately to hide. He sounded exasperated and completely warn down as he said, "it's dark, it could have happened to  _anyone_." It was true, the night had set in what he assumed was several hours ago. Thanks to the delays in getting going they had not managed to get back before the sun went down, and from there it had apparently been too easy for Sam and the wonder fisherman to get them completely lost. It made him wonder how they had managed to reach the island in the time they had, or at least the time he assumed it had taken.

_Unless,_  he mused,  _they aren't any more eager to arrive than I am._

But Diana didn't take this into account. Instead she just snorted before responding, "oh yes,  _anyone_  could get hopelessly lost in what is essentially a giant fishbowl.  _Anyone_  could leave us floating around for about two hours before figuring out that we  _probably_  weren't in the right place and having to use their glowing death lasers to find their way back, because they packed flashlights that were  _nearly dead_. No, this  _definitely_  isn't the result of poor planning, a complete lack of a sense of direction, and delays in the form of idiots that nearly burn down a building to burn down a point!" Her rant was followed by yet another glare at Sam, which she then switched to Caine.

It had been a long, long, long day.

Deciding to ignore the girl that seemed to be rapidly going from annoyed to irate Caine glanced at Sam, who looked like he was going to say something back before deciding it would be better not to. Instead he let out a sigh and flopped down into one of the chairs that was not taken by Lana or Dekka, who had fallen asleep. At the moment it was only he, Diana, Sam, and Quinn who were awake, and seeing as Quinn was steering the boat and wasn't exactly known for his fearless and outgoing ways he doubted he would be jumping into the conversation any time soon.

Silence fell over the group for a moment, and he found himself hoping that it would last. But it seemed that nothing he hoped for was going to be happening any time soon as the silence was broken by Sam muttering, "we should probably figure out what we're going to do." There was no need to ask for clarification on what he meant by that. He was worried about what would happen once they arrived at Perdido Beach, as if that wasn't flowing through all of their minds, no matter how much certain people tried to ignore it. For his part Caine just glared off into the distance, not about to hang his head like someone fearing what was to come but also not willing to look his brother in the face at the moment, not wanting to see what was there.

It was Diana that spoke next. "You say that like it's something we can plan out. Some people will be fearful, some will be angry, and I highly doubt that any one of them will be happy to see us." There was a pause before the growled, "which means that they probably won't be happy with you either. What, the big hero of the FAYZ bringing the evil coates kids over to happy rainbow land."

He was surprised to hear her use his term for Sam and found himself glancing at her. She had been glaring out in front of herself as well, teeth bared, anger showing on her face. Exactly who she was angry at Caine did not know, but he sincerely doubted that it was the townies. For a moment he continued to look at her, unsure of what to do. In the end he made himself look away again.

Despite telling himself that he was not going to look at Sam his eyes betrayed him and darted over to the boy's face for a moment. He seemed to have paled at her words, although it was hard to tell in the dark, and looked almost like he couldn't figure out what to say. Finally he murmured, "actually, I'm not as in charge as you might think any more.

And so they fell into silence.

It was not until they arrived that anyone spoke again.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Despite what Diana had said it wasn't hours until they arrived. More like an hour, hour and a half, two at most. Still long enough for exhaustion to win her over and her to begin to doze off. Not long after the little debate, or argument, he wasn't completely sure what to call it, she had sat down beside him. Somewhere along the way she had gotten a tad too tired and ended up leaning against him, where she dozed off into a light sleep. For his part Caine also felt about ready to pass out, but some unholy combination or nervousness, apprehension, and good old fashioned insomnia kept him awake. Sam was awake as well, for the same reasons as him he assumed, but he wasn't about to try and communicate with him.

Finally Quinn announced, "I think I can see the dock."

He felt like if he had been walking to his execution this whole time this moment would have been his first glance of the guillotine. Still he refused to let his nervousness show, instead nudging Diana into wakefulness. She blearily blinked her eyes open and cast a confused glance around, before she apparently remembered where she was and what was going on and shot into an upright position. Which, he couldn't help but notice, was follow by scooting a few inches away from him. Forcing down the surge of bitterness he felt Caine glanced around the boat to see that Sam had gotten to rousing his little posse.

"Time to face the masses," Lana muttered as she got up and stretched. "Fantastic."

This was followed by Diana blearily pointing out, "if the masses have something even slightly resembling a brain they'll all be asleep by now. No, I think it's just the ones that would be leading the angry mobs that we'll have to deal with tonight." If he wasn't already reluctant to go out there and face the music that certainly didn't help any. The fact that he didn't feel all too good about what was going to come managed to upset him all by itself. He was a four bar, he was the leader of Coates Academy, he shouldn't feel even the slightest twinge of worry about going to face these idiots.

Never mind that he and Diana were all that remained of good old Coates Academy, otherwise known at the land of psychopaths, traitors, and cowards.

It was no wonder that Quinn had been able to see the dock, it seemed someone had thought to put up a welcoming sign. Well, if welcoming signs most likely hide incredible hostility and were made of fire. Still, it was the thought that counts.

A group of figured appeared to be gathered around a bonfire, who proceeded to rush to their feet and run to the end up the dock upon seeing the boat arrive. Beside him Diana rolled her eyes, for although he wasn't looking he knew her too well to think that there was any way she  _wouldn't_  be rolling her eyes at this moment, and stood up. "Wonderful," she muttered, "the welcoming party's here." Caine found the frown on his face deepen as he stood up and watched as the kids helped pull the boat into position. For a moment they seemed to completely fail to notice him, talking in rapid-fire voices to  _Quinn_  of all people. But of course he wasn't the kind of person to go unnoticed for long and soon looks began to go his way. Looks filled with shock, fear, anger, and just about every unpleasant emotion he could think of. Soon enough the loud babble began to turn to whispering.

He couldn't hear what they were saying and couldn't be bothered to try and hear it. It was far too easy to figure it out without trying to eavesdrop. What was he doing there, was he a prisoner, were they going to go to war again, yada yada yada. Caine felt one of his hands begin to twitch with the urge to fling someone and his lips threaten to twist into a snarl. His gaze was cold as he stared down the assembled kids, _daring_  them to approach him, to say something to his face. He assumed that Diana was doing the same thing beside him, although part of him thought that maybe she was trying to figure out what he was going to do.

Apparently that part was right for she soon muttered, "don't do anything stupid, not now." He glanced at her at this. Not a glare, not a sad look, just a look of frustration and anger. He assumed that she knew it wasn't directed at her, there was no way she would be dumb enough to assume it was her he was mad at when he was surrounded by these people.

Eventually Sam's people began to file off the boat, followed by the great mayor himself, who paused to look back at them. Caine forced himself to roll his eyes before stepping off and beginning what felt like the longest walk of his life. The streets weren't filled with people like he had been starting to make himself believe. But then again, why would they be? It was late at night, or early in the morning depending on how you wanted to look at it, and the townies had no way of knowing that they would be coming in tonight. In fact he figured that a popular theory might have been that they were coming in the morning. After all, it would make much more sense than boating around at night. From the snippets of conversation he was able to catch the kids that had been waiting at the dock were a pair of Quinn's crew and had been assigned, or in the case of many volunteered, to watch just in case they arrived tonight and needed help. Charming, the amount of loyalty they felt for the spineless fool. It did absolutely nothing to help his mood. After all, he had to be a much better leader than Quinn, so why would he have an entire group of seemingly mindless cronies, even if said cronies were just fishermen, when almost everyone had betrayed him?

Everyone except Diana, although that little stint on the cliff had made it question it for a while. In fact part of him was still questioning it, but not at the moment. For now the last thing he needed was to be worrying about the state of their relationship and whatever that relationship would be called. As he walked, surrounded by the whispers of those fishermen that had failed to run off and do whatever it was they did(probably spread rumors) and his 'rescue team' he made sure to maintain a certain closeness to her. Not enough to cause questions but enough that he sent a clear message to anyone that might be looking that whatever was going on he wasn't with Sam and his crew. Occasionally they would run across the odd child lurking about outside. They would normally send some sort of look their way, be it scared, angry, or just plain shocked, but so far none of them had had it in them to come forward and ask exactly what was going on.

Which was what Caine wanted to ask at the moment, or at least some version of it. He wanted to know exactly where they were going. However, Diana did not ask, as it appeared that her voice had left her at the moment for some reason unknown to him. Eventually Dekka broke off, heading to her own house, which was soon followed by Quinn murmuring something to Sam and heading his own way, Lana going with him. With Quinn gone the stragglers from his crew soon broke off, leaving him with just Sam and Diana, heading down the tattered and mostly empty streets of Perdido Beach to who knows where. It appeared to have changed a bit since he had last seen it, most noticeably the burnt up or missing houses that he had noticed in a certain direction. Which was probably his fault to be completely honest, even if indirectly.

Finally Sam said, "we're going to my house. Well, Astrid's house, but…" This caused Caine's gaze to redirect from the lovely scenery of a town in ruin to his twin and turn into a glare. Of all the places they could be going  _that_  was where they were headed?

Diana aired his thoughts by snapping, "have you lost your mind?"

Sam sighed before pointing out, "look, it's probably the best place for you to be at the moment. We can't exactly trust the two of you on your own, at least if the town knows you're with me they'll feel a bit safer. The only other even slightly plausible options would be Orc, who just so happens to be guarding Drake at the moment, and Brianna and Jack, who I don't think either of you would be any more eager to be spending time with." Caine continued to glare at Sam, but he did admit that it made sense. Horribly, annoying sense that he probably wouldn't go through with if it where up to him. So what if the townies were a little afraid? Fear was an effective way to maintain control. But for now he most likely had to go along with Sam or risk starting another battle, and as much as it angered him to admit it, even with himself, if he ended up fighting with him he probably wouldn't come out on top at the moment. Which just so happened to be a very different train of thought than the one he had been riding only a few hours ago.

They did not speak again until they arrived at a house that looked like, well, a house. So this was where Sam and his little genius girlfriend had been living? He had to admit, he was disappointed. Personally he would have chosen something much more extravagant, something that clearly showed off that he had power. Something more like a castle than something torn out of suburbia, something that would put awe and respect into the heart of anyone that laid their eyes upon it.

Sam hesitated at the door, which through Caine through a loop. And then, much to his eternal shock, he  _knocked_. For a moment he stared in wide eyed disbelief at his brother. Hadn't he just said that he pretty much lived here? Then why in god's name was he knocking!? Apparently Diana had noticed the look on his face for she let out a snort before pointing out, "some people have manners, you know."

Before he could react the door opened to reveal a relieved and worried looking Astrid that appeared to have not changed into her night clothes yet. Apparently he wasn't the only one that had found sleep to be a lost cause. The first thing she noticed was her boyfriend and apparently that was the only thing she noticed for a moment, for she began, "Sam, I-" only to cut off when she apparently realized that they were not alone. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she hissed, "what are they doing here?"

Without giving Sam a chance to respond Diana drily said, "well, it's nice to see you too." Caine abandoned the glare he had taken up sending at the so-called genius to glance at Diana in disbelief. Hadn't she been the one telling him not to do anything stupid all this time? Just how was immediately starting to worsen the already bad relationship with someone they may be stuck spending quite a bit of time with a good idea?

A sigh left Sam before he wearily said, "it's… a long story. Mind if we come in?" Astrid was still for a moment and Caine was beginning to feel the urge to just fling her out of the way when she stepped aside. It was Sam that headed in first, Caine not exactly hesitating but not eager to go in either. Picking up on this Diana silently nudged him before stepping in herself, Caine finally entering after her.

The tension in the room was so thick that Caine was beginning to wonder if it was starting to become tangible when Sam murmured, "you two can step into the other room if you like. I'm going to catch Astrid up on recent events… you'll probably be hearing it plenty in the next few days." He liked to think that he didn't feel at all grateful that he wouldn't have to stand by and listen to him recount the tale, that he wouldn't have to watch and see her immediate reaction. But despite how good he was at lying, even to himself, things sometimes slipped through.

With a nod of his head he stepped into the next room, which appeared to be a living room, Diana following. After glancing around it for a few moments he slowly made his way to a chair and sat down, where he began to look up at the ceiling. From the next room over he could hear whispering. He had a feeling he'd be hearing a lot of that for a while now.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Guess who's in school writing fanfiction? Yep, that would be me. Which is a pain, seeings as I only have access to google docs here, which doesn't allow you to upload it to the website, so when I move it into word I'll have to italicize and bold and italicized or bolded words all over again. Which means surrounding said words with **stars** to make sure I don't forget. Anyway, enough of my rambling about the finer details of formatting, it's time to write. :3 As always this chapter is dedicated to Tienka, may the worms be with you.
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.

Slowly she blinked her eyes open. Everything seemed blurry and out of focus, as if she was looking through a heavy sheet of fog. Despite her drowsiness annoyance flared through her at this and she blinked a few times before rubbing her eyes, clearing the sleep from them. Once she was able to actually see her surroundings she felt a mixture of surprise and confusion. She was in a living room? Oh, she remembered that she was in Astrid's house, that little fact hadn't left her for a second. In fact she was pretty sure it had haunted her nightmares. But she had actually passed out on a chair? A small groan left Diana at this. That was just  _sad_. Come into your enemies house and only make it to the living room before falling asleep, that was bound to create a good imagine.  _But then again,_  she thought,  _having to be rescued by people you helped try to kill probably isn't either._

For a moment she felt a flash of guilt. She might not be an insane sadist like Drake, she might not have been the one to decide to destroy the power plant, she might not have been the one that came up with all of Caine's plans, but her certainly helped. Which meant that she held part of the responsibility for everything he had done. Maybe she could have tried to stop him earlier, like she had at the cliff. But that hadn't turned out very well, had it? Besides, maybe she hadn't even wanted to try and stop it earlier.

With a sigh she pushed the thoughts out of her head and got to her feet. There was no use in dwelling on those things, she had much more serious issues to worry about for the time being. As her mind began to wander to those more serious things she glanced around the room, eventually spotting when she had been looking for. Caine was passed out in another chair, although this one looked like some sort of recliner. Not that it looked like he had noticed that himself, apparently he had been tired enough to fall asleep right then and there. As a matter of fact he was  _still_  asleep, despite how it was probably past noon. "I swear to god, we're going to be nocturnal by the time this is over," she muttered to herself.

At first she considered waking him up. After all, if she just let him sleep until it was evening again he certainly wouldn't be happy. But then again she doubted that he would be happy no matter what happened at this point. And it just so happened that sleep was important, especially when the past three days have been a never-ending circle of chaos. However, she couldn't help but feel like chaos was a little light of a term for what they had been going through.

Her footsteps were quiet as she walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. She felt her eyes constantly darting from side to side, trying to see if anyone was there. If she wasn't alone at the moment, which she highly doubted she was, she didn't want to be caught unaware. But it seemed like some people would be able to sneak up on you no matter how alert you were, or at least speed up to you fast enough to catch you by surprise. A rush of air was the only warning she got before Brianna was standing in front of her, looking rather smug and nervous at the same time. The nervousness was a rather odd thing for the girl, but for the time being she ignored it. Instead she felt a angry look cross her face as she snapped, "what the hell are you doing here? And do you feel the need to run  _everywhere_  you go?"

She raised an eyebrow at this, a twinge of amusement at Diana's apparent anger beginning to show on her face. Of course, this did absolutely nothing to help Diana's temper, triggered by a rather cocky and obnoxious girl zooming in front of her. Not that said cocky girl seemed all that bothered by it. With a snort Brianna responded, "touchy today, aren't we." Diana felt herself bristle at this, but Brianna ignored it as she continued, "first off, yeah, I kinda do. I  _am_  The Breeze after all, and don't pretend you wouldn't if you could. Second, I was sent to watch you. You know, make sure your boyfriend doesn't decide to bring about the end of the world while Sam and Astrid are away, things like that."

In that moment Diana was convinced that Brianna's soul purpose in teeth was to get under her skin. She grit her teeth, restraining herself from verbally biting the girl's head off. If she was taking to Caine she couldn't help but think that the girl would have been slammed into a wall by now, but something told her that causing trouble with the person that had been sent to 'watch them' wouldn't end very well.

She was quiet for longer than she would have liked just because she wasn't sure what she could say that wouldn't start something. And when she did it  _probably_ wasn't the best thing she could have said. Instead of doing something sensible, like asking exactly what Sam and Astrid were doing and why it was her watching them, she retorted, "well if you're referring to the power plant fiasco I'm proud to inform it that we never could have done it without the help of your little computer nerd."

Now that worked like a charm. Brianna tensed, her cheeks beginning to turn red as she glared at Diana. A part of her regretted it almost immediately after she said it, not because it was a low blow but because it would surely bring the subject back to Caine. However, there was another, stronger part of her that enjoyed seeming the smug Brianna knocked down a few pegs, a part that caused her to smirk at her words. However, that part wasn't feeling nearly as strong and proud when the self-proclaimed hero shot back, "yeah, and who was it that got him to do it!?" Her eyes narrowed at this, which only caused Brianna's ego to widen as she continued, "Jack told me everything, you know. How you made him go, how he was threatened into doing it, how Drake wanted to cut me up with barbed wire."

Now she was flat out pissed. But she didn't raise her voice and start to scream, instead she kept it cool and level as she commented, "still did it, didn't he? And it didn't stop Drake, now did it? Tell me, what kind of hero is that? That is the type you go for, isn't it? What with your big superhero act and all." For a moment Brianna didn't say anything and Diana allowed herself a moment to feel victorious. Jack might read about heros in his comic books, he might be incredibly strong, but in the end a hero he was not. Neither was Caine, but then again she had never tried to tell herself that he was.

Then Brianna went and  _completely changed the subject_. A smirk made its way onto her face as she pointed out, "you didn't deny that he's your boyfriend. So it's true then?" For a moment Diana felt shocked, annoyed, and finally defensive.

In a low voice she growled, "you know, I don't think your relationship status is any of your business. I was hoping that you have  _a little_  more dignity than Taylor." But the girl did not falter, sensing that she had picked up on some sort of sore spot.

There was a bit of a sing-song note to her voice as she said, "you're still not denying it."

That was the moment she decided that she was done with this bullshit. Standing here and arguing with Brianna would get her nowhere; it was just a massive waste of time. There was too much on her mind to bother arguing with some kid right now. Too many people had to be talked to; too much drama was bound to pop up. Focusing on this instead of her seemingly limitless reserve of annoyance for the girl before her she asked, "where's Sam? And genus girl too, I guess?"

Brianna hesitated at this, like she didn't know what to say, or really if she was meant to say anything. It occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, it hadn't been thoughtless arguing that had been coming from the girl's mouth. Maybe she had been trying to make sure they stayed away from certain subjects. There was a little bit of nervousness in her voice when she responded, "they're… out." She said it as if she thought it could mean anything, like just saying those two words wouldn't give absolutely everything away. Unfortunately for her that was far from the case.

Diana's voice was a deadpan as she responded, "let me guess, they're out calming the panicking masses?" Although she tried to look calm she couldn't help but feel annoyed and maybe just a little anxious. They were stuck here now at the mercy of a group of people that they had done more than enough wrong to. Well, maybe not completely at the mercy of, maybe not completely stuck. They could always try to run if things went too wrong, right? Caine still had his powers after all; if they tried to escape maybe they wouldn't be able to stop them.

 _Yeah,_  another part of her retorted,  _escape and go where, exactly?_ She had to resist the urge to groan as that thought crossed her mind. It was time to face the music and there was no way out of it this time. But then again, hadn't she wanted them to give up and join Sam's team not too long ago, back when they were starving at Coates Academy? Odd how old worries could come rushing back when you were actually face to face with something.

She was yanked out of her thoughts by Brianna's voice once again. It wasn't smug and confident like moments ago as she said, "well, that and addressing some rumors." There was a pause before she added, "are they true?"

The moment she heard those words she felt herself tense. Here it was, the inevitable questioning. 'Is it true?' 'What, exactly, happened on the cliff?' 'He kinda deserved what he got, don't you think?' 'What's wrong with you that you haven't left yet?' No matter how hard she tried Diana couldn't convince herself that she was ready to face this. As a matter of fact she had a feeling that she would never really be ready to face it. But it wasn't up to her, was it? People wouldn't wait for her to have everything sorted out to explain. They wouldn't wait until the web of drama she had been thrust into had been pulled apart slightly to badger her. No, she was not ready to face this, but she knew that she was more ready than Caine.

"Depends on what rumors you're talking about." Her voice was cool and calm as she spoke, but she knew that she was really just delaying. She had very little doubt as to which 'rumor' the girl was referring to. After all, what was the cliff fiasco or any prior gossip compared to karma finally reaching the evil Coates duo? And, judging by the way Brianna was looking at her, she knew that as well.

Brianna's voice was low as she replied, "I think you already know."

And there it was, the stating of the obvious. She wanted to respond right away, to be as dignified as ever. But in reality she felt far from dignified. It felt like she was going to crumble into dust at any moment. Or maybe pinch herself, maybe it was all a dream. One long, bad dream. Only it couldn't be. While nightmares were horrible even they had  _some_  limits, and those limits had long ago been passed in the FAYZ. Something this bad could only be reality. No matter how hard she fought she couldn't hide the slight tremor in her voice as she said, "yes."

The change came in a flash. For a moment the stress of what had been happening showed on her, everything she had gone through at Coates, Penny, the island, Caine, the FAYZ. Her fears, her worries, her intense desire to appear to be strong even when she felt like she was going to break. But within seconds, before Brianna could even truly register when she had seen, Diana straightened up and was back to looking like she had moments ago. "Anyway," she continued, "I think I'll go find them, it'll probably be easier if someone that actually went through it is there as well."

With that she began to move toward the door, holding onto the unlikely hope that Brianna would just let her pass without an issue. And unlikely things did appear to happen quite often in the FAYZ, but that wouldn't be one of them. The self-proclaimed superhero sped in front of her, standing in front of the door as she exclaimed, "I was sent here to watch you guys, I can't just let you leave!"

A spike of frustration surged through her at this. Oh,  _of course_  she couldn't just make things easy for her. She wasn't focusing on the little tidbit she had just discovered, which was good, but it certainly wasn't as good as agreeing to leave her alone. But she wasn't about to turn around and give in just because Brianna said she wasn't allowed to do something. Instead she looked the other girl in the eyes as she said, "you said yourself that you were sent here to ensure that Caine 'doesn't decide to bring about the end of the world.' Well that would mean that he's the one that really needs to be watched and poses a real threat." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she added, "unless, of course, you think that my magnificent powers of sarcasm pose a huge danger to us all. Besides, no matter how  _fast_  you are you still can't be in two places at once. So, are you going to waste your time arguing with me and possibly risk starting something or make sure you're still here when the very powerful and quite possibly very angry telekinetic wakes up?"

Brianna was silent for a few moments, which caused Diana to smirk before murmuring, "that's what I thought." With that she stepped around the girl, ignoring any and all protests that might be sent her way. No matter how much she might argue they both knew that she wouldn't be running after her.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

There weren't many people wandering out in the streets. Those that were glanced at her but didn't say much of anything, although she would hear someone murmuring to someone else every now and then. It seemed that almost everyone had something more important to do, and she hoped that that something was working and not gathering somewhere talking about them. But the fact that there was a gathering about them somewhere was undeniable, she just had to figure out exactly where it was.

Which, thankfully, didn't take too long. From what she understood almost every meeting, official or unofficial, seemed to happen around the plaza. While there was something to be said for creativity she had to admit, a little bit of predictability did make things easier in this situation.

The first thing she noticed upon entering the plaza was how bad it looked compared to the place she had seen back when the FAYZ still started. Fire damage, it looked like almost everything had been moved from its original position, and the church was little more than rubble. But apparently it was still able to function on a minimal level for she saw a few people milling around the front, as if unsure if they really wanted to be there or not. It was the awkward look of someone that didn't really want to be at a meeting but felt like they had to be there anyway and, if you asked her, a one of the best indicators that something was going on inside the building.

Pushing aside everything weighing down on her mind Diana forced herself to look confident as she approached the entrance. Don't mind her, she's just someone that helped tear apart your nice little town and is about to get in on your meeting. Just pretend that nothing ever happened and everything will be fine. Except the world didn't work that way. Several of the people that had been lurking around the entrance scattered while two others stepped forward, guards, she realized. It really should have stuck her as strange, the sight of two unsure kids guarding some sort of unofficial get-together. But strange had become a little more normal long ago and by now this looked almost reasonable to her. Sure, there was a sense of wrongness to it, but it wasn't strange.

There was a moment of silence as Diana began to glare at one of the kids, who looked like he was about to wet himself. She couldn't help but find this a little ridiculous; even with the kinds of people she had hung out with she herself had never been much of a threat. But then again, her reputation had always preceded her. Crossing her arms Diana let out a sigh before commenting, "so, for some reason I  _highly_ doubt that you're in a position of power here. So I suggest you either find someone that is or let me in." The kid continued to stand there in silence, staring at her as if she were some unnatural being from another planet. Just as she was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with him and consider shoving past him he turned to his companion, a young girl. They whispered to each other for a moment before she nodded and darted off.

While she had never really prided herself in her patience Diana had always liked to think that she was fairly decent when it came to waiting. And while she did not get too anxious because of the wait, not compared to the little cliff adventure anyway, she did find herself growing more and more annoyed. It might have only been a few moments that she was waiting but every second felt like it was driving her further and further up the wall. However, before she could find herself deciding to throw caution out the window and push her way past the kids and into the church a familiar Honduran approached her.

No, she didn't exactly know Edilio personally, but she did know that he seemed rather sane compared to many other people she had encountered during her time in the FAYZ. It was because of this that she couldn't help but feel a tad relieved that it would be him talking to her and not some idiot who contained absolutely no traces of rationality. The boy before her gave a small nod before asking, "Diana… what are you doing here? Astrid said you were at her house." At first she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. But in the end the temptation was too great and she indulged herself, no matter how rude it may appear.

"Oh yeah," she drawled, "the speedy babysitter that they left behind. Really, it's a miracle that I ever got past such a dedicated guard." Edilio cast her a look at this, one that said just how little good sarcasm would do at the moment. So she fell silent for a moment before continuing, "okay, look. Unless Drake just crawled out of that basement and began begging to repent and for Astrid to teach him the ways of the Lord, which I  _highly_ doubt, something tells me that whatever's going on in there is about… recent events. And as the only currently awake individual that was there through it all and is in any condition to be tal- facing this I feel like I should at least be allowed to see what's going on."

Again they were quiet, but Diana didn't dare interrupt this time. She could tell he was thinking about it and, to be perfectly honest, she didn't think that telling him to hurry up would help. After a little while he stepped aside before murmuring, "come in." Simple and to the point, something she could appreciate when she knew that she was probably about to face some sort of political apocalypse.

A few people had been looking at the entrance of the church, wondering what had caused Edilio to be called over there, but most were looking ahead at the talking going on near the front. But those few people that were looking her way and saw her entrance couldn't just stay silent. Oh no, someone had to gasp, which made more heads turn, which caused a wave that ended in a low murmuring washing over the crowd and what seemed like all eyes on her. "Jeeze," she muttered, "you'd think I'm the freaking queen of England with this direction."

The sound of many hushed voices was cut through by someone exclaiming, "what is  _she_ doing here?" Immediately Diana whipped her head around to try and spot the speaker, only to find herself looking at none other than Howard. She had heard enough from Caine from before their trip to the island of doom to know that he tended to dabble in things that were less than legal… and moral."

She forced a smile onto her face before retorting in a falsely sweet voice, "I could ask the same of you. Shouldn't you, I don't know, burst into flames upon entering a church?" Although she couldn't see the boy all too clearly from his position across the church she was pretty sure that he was bristling. A part of her wanted to smirk, not because she had possibly made someone feel bad but because she had pulled someone that tried to attack her down a peg or two.

"She does have a right to be here, Howard." Those words caused her to look back up to the front of the church where, standing just in front of the steps, ( _level with the people_ , she noted) was Sam Temple. It appeared that while she had caused a bit of a distraction he and Astrid had been discussing something, for the so-called genius appeared to have just finished whispering in his ear. While astrid looked annoyed and maybe a little stressed by her arrival Sam actually appeared to be a tad relieved. Diana raised an eyebrow at the leader of the Townies(Or was he still the leader? What he had said on the boat didn't make that very clear.) while he asked in a strained voice, "Diana, would you please come up here? Maybe help answer some questions?"

Her voice was slightly tart as she replied, "gladly." With every step she took toward the front she felt eyes boring into her. She refused to let herself be affected by them though. Despite the nervousness continuing to grow inside her she made sure to keep her head up and look proud. Diana Ladris, the witch of Coates Academy, bad girl, unbeatable. That was who she was, or at the very least it was what she made people think she was, and she wasn't about to let go of that any time soon.

Upon coming to stand beside Sam and Astrid, and fail to look directly at them, she found herself wondering just why Sam had said she had a right to be there when he had sent Brianna to keep herself and Caine where they were. The first thing that occurred to her was that maybe the mass interrogation was wearing him down. Then came the creeping thought that maybe Brianna hadn't been sent to keep them captive but to ensure there was a chance that not everything would fall apart if they woke up feeling less than great. For while she herself was not dangerous Caine was a four bar, which meant that not only was he himself dangerous but she could be considered a threat by association.

Before she could get very far in her train of thought she was yanked out of it be someone exclaiming, "is it true, then!?"

The question came from the middle of the crowd and try as she might she was not able to spot it. A brief flash of annoyance went through her at the person asking such a question remaining anonymous. However, it was all but buried beneath the hurricane of other emotions that seemed to be sweeping through her. This was it then, the million dollar question. The one that the more she thought about it the more she felt like she shouldn't be the one answering. But by how fast the question had been asked she assumed that Sam and Astrid hadn't done a very good job at answering and being straight about it, and god knows that it was better she answer it than them.

"Yes." She did not allow herself to stop and think for a long time, to risk breaking down right then and there. Instead she forced on her strong face as she began her answer, continuing seconds later, "if you are referring to the more recent rumors that I assume have been spreading about the answer is yes." Although she did not want to she found herself pausing at that moment. She wanted to stand up and look brave and dignified, to look into this crowd of kids living in a broken world and look like she knew everything would be alright. For a moment she wanted to be able to talk the way she remembered Caine talking, to charm a crowd with just a few lines, to block out any emotions that might have been stirring inside him. Heck, it seemed like there was nothing she wouldn't give just to be able to talk like she herself normally did.

Her hands were shaking. She didn't know when it had started but suddenly she became aware of how her hands were shaking and how she was unable to control the action. Part of her hoped that no one noticed this, it wouldn't help for her to look like she was about to fall apart. When she took in a breath it felt harsh and ragged, like when you just got back from running four miles or were holding back tears. But she certainly wasn't going to cry, right? This had happened several days ago, she had explained the Penny situation to Sam, she had been through hell! Why should explaining it to the crowd start to have an effect on her?

Just as she began to worry that she wasn't going to be able to do it she felt the light pressure of someone giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She did not look back to see who it was, although there were only two people that close to her at the moment and she highly doubted it was Astrid, but it did give her just enough of a push to continue.

"When we went to the island two other people made it with Caine and I, Bug and Penny. Penny… I'm not sure she was ever sane, not completely. But something happened, something that was not an accident but at the same time probably not well thought out, that sent her over the edge. Her legs were broken and she was crippled. Penny had a unique power, I guess that's why she was considered valuable, god knows it wasn't her glimmering personality. She can make people see and sometimes feel things that aren't really there, monsters." Again she paused, taking a moment to gather her thoughts, gather her words. Thankfully no one interrupted, she wasn't entirely sure she would be able to continue if they did.

After a few seconds she went on, "but what she did wasn't because of her powers alone. While I'm sure they played a part a good deal of what happened was an insane girl pushed over the brink, left alive when she should have died. I don't think any human can endure the suffering she went through, and in the end I don't think she was human any more. In the end I think she became just as bad as all those monsters she made people see." It might have sounded like she had pity for Penny. But in truth that pity had dried up the moment she had done the deed, what she said now was fact. It was the harsh, painful truth.

There was no pause this time, instead she seamlessly continued to say, "one day, with the help of Bug I assume, she attacked Caine. She tried to kill him, and she almost did."

One sentence, it was only one sentence but it seemed to bring her to a complete halt in her speech.  _She tried to kill him, she almost did._  She had almost lost him, even if he really wasn't hers to lose. Even if she wasn't entirely sure she wanted him to be hers. But the fact remained that he had almost been killed because of that witch, that he was forever changed because of a monster that she helped create. Caine might have been the one to drop her but Diana had no doubt that she had played a large part in pushing her too far. And sure, maybe she would have reached the breaking point eventually no matter what, but maybe if she had acted differently things would have turned out differently for him.

It was the feeling of tears beginning to burn in her eyes that pulled her back to reality again. She paused for a moment to try and blink them back before finishing, "I was the one that sent up the flares. He lived because of Lana but there was permanent damage, he lost his voice. Penny is still on the island somewhere, probably with Bug, and I don't know exactly what you've all been talking about but I hope I was able to shed some light on the subject." As she finished up Diana had no doubt that her voice sounded far from strong. She felt like she had run a marathon, almost like she had lived through it all over again just by relaying the events.

Her voice was barely a whisper as she glanced over at Sam and asked, "I hope that was enough?"

His response was a mute nod. Without another word she began to walk out of the church and back to the house. No one talked to or called anything out to her this time.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So as it turns out I do have an overarching plot for this fanfic other than Angst! Drama! Occasional humor that really doesn't belong there! It is also true that if I did the entire fic from Caine and Diana's points of view there would be certain chunks missing that could really confuse you. Because even though many things will be explained some things will remain mysteries, but I do not want them to be mysteries to the readers. Which is where these chapters come in, which I like to call plot points. Most of the time they aren't assigned a specific day in the story, instead it's safe to assume that they occur around the time, give or take a few days, of the chapter it is beside. The exception to this being if it happens during a big, specific event, which will be pretty obvious if/when it happens. An example of a plot point would be the prologue, basically it doesn't really need to be there but I felt that the story would be kinda naked without it. No, this is not a very long chapter at all, but 1.) there isn't much interaction in it and it would be kinda sloppy to shove it in with a proper chapter, and 2.) through the natural gift of klutziness I managed to badly sprain my wrist and it is now in a cast. Yeah, now fun. Anyway, a big thank you to everyone that has been reading and reviewing, I greatly appreciate it. 3
> 
> Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.

Laughter.

It echoed out of her throat at her little servant rolled her to shore, strong and clear. Oh, they hadn't thought she could do it, did they? No, they couldn't have. It had taken desperate measures to get on the island in the first place and the witch had needed to call for help to get off. Oh yes, she had seen that. She had been watching. She was always watching, waiting from the shadows, waiting to strike. It had been rather funny, really, to see that girl flailing around in an attempt to save him. In a way it resembled a dance if you asked her. No, not a dance, a puppet. Diana was a puppet and she was the one pulling her strings.

Another laugh bubbled up from Penny's throat. This time she noticed Bug shoot her an alarmed look out of the corner of her eye. She did not say anything just yet, instead shooting him a smile that was a little too wide.

They hadn't expected her to be able to get off the island, hadn't expected her to reach the mainland. If you asked her she would say that it was because they didn't manage it themselves. That was because they weren't smart enough, weren't determined enough, weren't  _powerful_  enough. It was really rather impressive what you could accomplish when you had someone that would do absolutely anything you said, knowing that if they didn't they would suffer a fate worse than death. Illusions, horrible illusions, floating through your head and poisoning your mind, sucking you deep into the world of insanity.

But of course Penny would not know anything about insanity. She was a queen without a crown, not a madwoman. Could've been the queen to his king, had he been a little smarter and a lot less pulled into the witch's spell.

It was rather amusing to look back on.

Bug, her little Bug that was less than faithful but too cowardly to betray her, had gone and found her everything she needed to get away. He found her a path, he risked his life sneaking into the mansion to get her an inflatable boat from the storage while that pretty little healer girl tried to save the fallen telekinetic. He had assembled the boat, he had gotten it into the water, and finally he had gotten her down. Oh, the climb had cost him, but not nearly as much as it would have had he angered her. A broken arm, a sprained ankle, no doubt he was starting to starve by this point. But she didn't care. As long as he could walk she didn't care. After all, she needed someone to wheel her around for the time being.

This thought made a look of anger begin to twist across her face. This combined with her ratty hair, her tattered clothes, the dirt and various other waste covering her body, and the sheer stench emanating from her was enough to make her look like something straight from a horror movie. It was not her appearance that caused Bug to fear though. No, it was that manic look in her eye. Penny's voice was something between a shriek, a cry, and a laugh as she exclaimed, "Bug! Fix me!"

Confusion washed across the boy's face at this. He was trying his best to keep himself from stuttering as he replied, "I-I don't understand. Fix you?"

He tried to hide his fear and he tried valiantly, but it was useless when going against Penny. Didn't he know that she knew fear like an old friend? She knew how it looked, smelled, sounded tasted. No, more than that, she was fear. And at the moment fear was in control of that pathetic little boy. "My legs," she growled, "fix my legs. I need to walk."

Desperation was in his voice as he replied, "I can't! Only the healer could do that, and I don't think-" he never got to finish that thought. Instead he was cut off by the blood-curdling scream that forced its way out of his own throat as he fell down to his knees. Bug would see his legs beginning to twist into odd angles and snap, feel them start to break. To any other person watching he would look perfectly fine other than the apparent fit he was having, not that he had been dumb enough to bring them to a shore anywhere close to the town, but to him it was all too real. The same could be said for the girl casting the illusion upon him. That was why she had chosen that particular one, she knew the reality of it, the way it hurt, the sense of loss and pain. But she was not hit by a wave of misery seeing someone that had helped her believe to suffer the way she had. Instead she felt glee.

Bug pleaded, cried, and eventually she lifted the illusion. It was not without reluctance, seeing that annoying little boy writhe around in pain was great fun, but he couldn't be of any use while in this state. Without giving him time to recover she spat, "we don't  _need_  the healer. There's a thing out there, something that Caine ranted and raved about for months, something that made him kill, and I'll bet that something is what gave Drake Merwin his whip arm."

Most people would feel fear talking about what she was talking about, would be wary of the thought of such a thing. But not her. In Penny's mind it was a thing she could use to her control, something she could make heal her and make others bow to her. Penny was fear, and no one messed with fear, not even rumored cave monsters. Bug, on the other hand, had dread crossing his face.

She didn't care.

Just as he began to stumble to his feet and open his mouth she spat, "what are you waiting for!? Get to it."

Panic flashed across Bug's face. What did she expect him to do? Take her to the mine, to the Darkness? Hadn't it collapsed? There was no way he would be able to dig it out, and what would she do when that happened? In an attempt to change the subject he asked, "wouldn't you like to be cleaned off first though? We're right next to the water, might as well take advantage of it." Unfortunately she saw the distraction for what it was.

Bug fell to the ground screaming once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write this over a year after I wrote that chapter, this fic as a whole, and these authors notes. You see I find myself at a bit of a dilemma. I'm not sure whether to continue to fic or not. I still remember the plot I had planned and my overarching goals for it. However, I can't help but wonder whether it's good enough to continue writing and uploading. It brings me joy to write, certainly, but I keep writing largely unnecessary details, wondering if I'm getting the characters in-character, and questioning whether it's good enough over all. As such I'm asking anyone who may be reading this for their input. Should I continue, yay or nay?


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